The San Francisco Pass is a pass over the

Andes mountains The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

which connects

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The highest point of this pass is at

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

Location

The pass is located at and connects the Argentine province of Catamarca with the Atacama Region in Chile. In the Argentine side, route N 60 ascends from Fiambala at AMSL in a deep valley formed by mountains. In the last sinuous , the route climbs from about in Las grutas to more than at the border. On the Chilean side the route CH-31 connects

Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km north ...

with the ChileanArgentine border. On the way it passes next to Maricunga's salt flat on the

Nevado Tres Cruces National Park Nevado Tres Cruces National Park () is a national park located in the Atacama Region of Chile, east of Copiapó. It includes Laguna Santa Rosa, Laguna del Negro Francisco, and a part of the Salar de Maricunga. The park is divided into two zones, ...

and

Laguna Verde Laguna Verde, the Spanish-language form of ''green lagoon'' or ''green lake'', may refer to: Bolivia *Laguna Verde (Bolivia), a salt lake in Potosi Department *Laguna Verde (Beni), a lake in Beni Department *Laguna Verde (Comarapa), a lake in Comar ...

. The area is surrounded by

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

es and high peaks as the Cerro

Falso Azufre Falso Azufre is a complex volcano at the border of Argentina and Chile. Falso Azufre is elongated in east–west direction and contains craters and lava domes; most craters have diameters of with the exception of the main crater, which is wi ...

(), the volcano

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(), the Incahuasi () and highest volcano in the world,

Nevado Ojos del Salado Nevado Ojos del Salado is a dormant complex volcano in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border. It is the highest volcano on Earth and the highest peak in Chile. The upper reaches of Ojos del Salado consist of several overlapping lava domes, ...

(), among others.

Gallery

File:Paso San Francisco 2.jpg File:Paso San Francisco 3.jpg File:Ruta 60 Argentina Paso san Francisco.jpg

References

Argentina–Chile border crossings Mountain passes of Chile Mountain passes of Argentina Mountain passes of the Andes Landforms of Atacama Region Landforms of Catamarca Province {{Atacama-geo-stub

Location

Gallery

See also

References