Dickson Lake is a glacier

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in southern

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

located in the

Southern Patagonian Ice Field The Southern Patagonian Ice Field ( es, Hielo Continental or '), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Chile and Argentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the P ...

, which since 1998 has been transformed into an international lake as it is crossed by the international boundary between Argentina and Chile due to the retreat of the Dickson glacier. Until that year, Dickson Lake was entirely within Chilean territory, at the northern end of the

Torres del Paine National Park Torres del Paine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a tr ...

in the

Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallanes ...

, but it was unified with a lake that began to form in the 1980s by defrosting the melting of the Dickson, Cubo (or Cincuentenario) and Frías (or Grande) glaciers. That lake was on the Argentine side when the Agreement was signed to specify the route of the limit from Mount Fitz Roy to the Daudet Hill of 1998, in a sector adjacent to the

Los Glaciares National Park Los Glaciares National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares) is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The park covers an area of , making it the largest national park in the country. Established on 11 May 1937, it host ...

, but without being part of it. The lake is fed by the glacier that shares its name and is drained by the

Paine River Paine River (''Río Paine'') is a river located in the Magallanes Region of Chile. The river rises from its source in Dickson Lake and flows east for nine kilometres (km) to Paine Lake. After flowing through the lake, the river runs for 15 ...

. It receives the waters of Los Perros River, which starts at a

proglacial lake In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around th ...

that was formed during the retreat of Los Perros Glacier. Administratively, it is part of the Argentine province of Santa Cruz, while on the Chilean side, it belongs to the

Magallanes Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

References

International lakes of South America Argentina–Chile border Lakes of Argentina Lakes of Chile Lakes of Magallanes Region Lakes of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina Torres del Paine National Park {{SantaCruzAR-geo-stub