Viedma Lake ( es, Lago Viedma, ) is a

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 ...

n lake in the province of Santa Cruz,

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 ...

, situated near its border with

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 ...

. Measuring approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) in length, it is a major elongated trough

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 ...

formed from melting glacial ice. Viedma Lake is the second largest perennial lake located entirely within Argentina."Principal Lagos de la Republica Argentina", http://www.ign.gob.ar/NuestrasActividades/Geografia/DatosArgentina/Lagos, accessed 20 Jul 2018. Note that this list does not include an area figure for the large but seasonal Mar Chiquita. Lake Viedma (5465531443)

The name of the lake comes from the Spanish explorer Antonio de Viedma, who in 1783 reached its shores, being the first European to do so. The town of

El Chaltén El Chaltén is a small mountain village in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is located on the riverside of Rio de las Vueltas, within the Los Glaciares National Park (section ''Reserva Nacional Zona Viedma'') near ...

and the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

peaks

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). The peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peak ...

and Fitz-Roy lie in the proximity of Lake Viedma. Lake Viedma is fed primarily by the Viedma Glacier at its western end. The Viedma Glacier measures 3 miles (5 kilometers) wide at its terminus at Lake Viedma. The brown landscape is a result of ice scouring, which left virtually no vegetation on the steep-walled valleys. Water from lake Viedma flows into

Lake Argentino Lago Argentino is a lake in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, at . It is the biggest freshwater lake in Argentina, with a surface area of (maximum width: ). It has an average depth of , and a maximum depth of . The lake lies with ...

through the La Leona River, and eventually from there into the Atlantic Ocean through the Santa Cruz River. Although the lake lies in Argentine territory, the western shores of the lake reach 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 ...

in an area where the border remains undefined.

References

Lakes of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina Argentina–Chile border Glacial lakes of Argentina Lakes {{SantaCruzAR-geo-stub

See also

References