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    Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire

    Photos from Chile

    There are [5] photos from Chile

    The once thriving oil town of Cerro Sombrero now almost appears post-apocalyptic to modern day visitors. It was an artificial town designed to house the huge numbers of miners and their families that were once required to maintain the thriving fossil fuel industry in the area but in recent years its population and funding have dropped in proportion to the regions production. This church is one of the few buildings that is still used and maintained; around it lie huge gymnasiums, theatres, swimming pools and community centres that have since fallen into various states of disrepair. It stands as a physical reminder of Chile's new shift towards renewable energies as the cure for its soaring energy requirements and desire for energy independence. Incidentally, the people of Chile are becoming more and more engaged in the countries energy direction and legislation. Chile's primary source of renewable energy, hydroelectric, has come under the spotlight due to its environmental impacts and an increasing awareness of the fact that the vast majority of energy in the country is used to power its Northern copper mines rather than for the energy requirements of its citizens. Views[799] Tierra del Fuego bears the scars of natural gas and petroleum exploration. Chile has always been nervous about its reliance on neighbouring countries, particularly Argentina, for it's non-renewable energy resources. From the 1940's Tierra del Fuego accounted for the vast majority of Chile's fossil fuel production and was considered particularly important at the time as renewable energy sources, which have now become a significant and sustainable source of Chile's energy, were far less developed. From the regions economic heyday in the mid to late twentieth century the countries focus on renewable energy and less productive reserves have reduced the physical presence of this part of the regions past. However its legacy is still very visible, as you can see from this image of one of the many remaining on-shore oil wells. Views[959] Just across Magellan's Strait lies the Pali Aike volcanic area, a reminder of the impressive natural forces which have shaped the local landscape. While millenia of erosion has left only remnants of volcanic activity behind in this particular site, with the Andes mountains nearby it's a poignant reminder of how small incremental changes, as simple as erosion from rain can, over timescales of such length to be unrecognisable to humans, reduce thousands of metres of mountains to the landscapes seen in this image. Views[591] Tierra del Fuego consists primarily of an expansive archipelago, separated by spectacular fjords, with a larger landmass on its Eastern side. On the North-Eastern side the landscape is primarily grassland steppe and cold climate desert. As we moved across towards the North-Eastern side of the island we came across a lone Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) as the sun began to set while rain fell in the distance. The Guanaco is a camelid and is the wild form of the more commonly known domesticated Llama. It is still widespread across wild areas of Southern South America. Views[557] The southern tip of South America is also the vast continents largest island and is known as Tierra del Fuego or 'Land of Fire'. It is separated from the mainland by Magellan's Strait, coined by the Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan when he was commissioned by the Spanish to lead exploration to the East Indies. To reach the Pacific Ocean from Europe he travelled across the Atlantic and found Magellan's Strait which enabled access to the Pacific without going down towards the treacherous waters off nearby Antarctica. Being in such close proximity to Antarctica, at the time Magellan passed through Tierra del Fuego there would have been many colonies of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), which can grow to one metre tall. However, the waves of colonisation that ensued resulted in such pressure from humans on their populations from land clearing, development and even as food and for export, that none would remain in the not too distant future. In recent years, however, a colony has returned to a protected bay off the north-western coast of Tierra del Fuego, and while not yet remarkably successful they have managed to produce a few offspring. This photograph was taken very early one morning and was the second time we had gone to observe the colony. On this occasion we were early enough that no other humans were around and the normally cautious penguins, which prefer to stay on the opposite side of a small river to their human observers, decided to cross the river en masse and explore their surrounds. We sat there, completely still, as troupes of them came right up to us, seemingly as curious about us as we were of them. These four came within metres of me and started singing a song while one of them turned around, seemingly to conduct their musical endeavour. Moments later they continued their exploration, however that moment is one that I will never forget. Views[711]
     

    About askdsn

    Tierra del Fuego consists primarily of an expansive archipelago, separated by spectacular fjords, with a larger landmass on its Eastern side. On the North-Eastern side the landscape is primarily grassland steppe and cold climate desert. As we moved across towards the North-Eastern side of the island we came across a lone Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) as the sun began to set while rain fell in the distance. The Guanaco is a camelid and is the wild form of the more commonly known domesticated Llama. It is still widespread across wild areas of Southern South America.

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