- Aisén Fjord
Aisén Fjord is an ~70 km long
fjord stretching east from a skerry-guarded (skjærgård ) region calledMoraleda Channel ( _es. Canal Moraleda), which is a body of water separating theChonos Archipelago from the mainland ofChile . It is located at coord|45.26|S|73.00|W and is connected indirectly to the open coast of thePacific Ocean via theDarwin Channel . The Aisén river discharges at the head of Aysen Fjord. [ CACERES, Mario.; Surface Features Of The Circulation In Fjords Of Southern Chile Observed In ERS And Landsat Images; Gayana (Concepc.), 2004, vol.68, no.2, supl, p.71-76. ISSN 0717-6538.] [ Caceres M.1; Valle-Levinson A.; Sepulveda H.H.; Holderied K.; Continental Shelf Research, Volume 22, Number 11, July 2002, pp. 1683-1698(16); Elsevier Science]Puerto Chacabuco is situated by the shores at the head of this fjord.Puerto Aisén lies on the Aisén River approximately 4 km above the head of Aysen Fjord. It serves as the capital for theAisén Province .The region is heavily influenced by a wide tidal reach (up to 8 meters). It lies near the
West Wind Drift , a major oceanic surface current which encounters the west coast of Chile at 41° S latitude. The West Wind Drift splits into the northward flowing branch which meets theHumboldt Current and the southward flowingCape Horn Current , providing ample heat to drive vaporization of the sea water, which results in onshore precipitation of 4,000 – 7,000 mm per year in the Chilean Andes. The moisture is driven onshore by prevailing westerly winds, theRoaring Forties . [Marine Conservation in Southern Chile; Hucke-Gaete, Rodrigo, Viddi, Francisco, & Bello, Maximillio; 2006; ISBN 956-299-994-7]Since January 2007 the fjord have suffered a series of minor earthquakes.
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