Marine mammals and birds we saw in Antarctica
There are many reasons to go to Antarctica, but probably the main draw is the marine life, especially penguins. I've already done a post about penguins (https://landscapes-revealed.net/gentoo-penguins-on-the-antarctica-peninsula/), but many more important life forms reside there. This post has images and—now that I'm home with more band width—videos of marine mammals and seabirds, including the flightless birds—penguins. Krill is the keystone...
Argentina’s Perito Moreno glacier is losing its groove
Perito Moreno is one of the world's most well known glaciers. Like the glaciers west of El Chaltén, it is located in Argentina's Glacier National Park (Parque Nacional los Glaciares), whose gateway is the town of Calafate. Almost all visitors who go to Calafate—nearly one million people each year—continue the 80 km (50 miles) farther west to see the famous...
Return to El Chaltén—Patagonia’s premier hiking destination
For 14 years, ever since we visited El Chaltén the first time, we've been wanting to return. Bordered by sheer granitic towers, the biggest attraction for us is that you can walk onto the trails leading to these towers directly from town, with no additional transportation needed. It was in 2012, when we first went to El Chaltén, that I...
Puerto Natales—gateway to Torres del Paine
Puerto Natales is an outdoor mecca on Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) that is the capital of the Ultima Esperanza Province of Chile. It has a population of about 19,000 people that expands in the Austral summer and shrinks in the winter. Visitors who stay in Torres del Paine National Park typically stop first in Puerto Natales, as we...
Chile’s iconic Torres del Paine National Park
Once you've seen the magnificent peaks of Chile's premier national park, you will always recognize them in photos. In this post, I provide photos and descriptions of hikes, and explain a little of the geologic history that is responsible for these remarkable landscapes. After returning to Punta Arenas from Antarctica, we took a bus to Puerto Natales, gateway to Torres...
Beautiful Antarctic Ice
I had seen lots of icebergs before, mainly in Alaska and Patagonia. But the number, size and diversity of icebergs in Antarctica was breathtaking. I’ll first provide photos of icebergs and then explain why they look the way they do. Icebergs calve from glaciers and I'll show some glacier photos too. From the boat we were transported to land via...
Gentoo penguins on the Antarctica Peninsula
Many visitors come to Antarctica specifically to see penguins, those cute flight-less marine birds that nest on land. We had seen quite a few penguins in South America on previous trips, but it is still a treat, especially to see different species with different behaviors. Most of the penguins we saw on the Antarctica Peninsula are Gentoo penguins. They are...
Why we flew to Antarctica
Most companies that take travelers to Antarctica use boats to make the journey from Punta Arenas, Chile, or Ushuaia, Argentina, to the Antarctica Peninsula. That journey takes two days in each direction. Clients continue on the same boat to explore various sites on the continent. We are traveling with Antarctica21, a Chilean company that takes clients to the Antarctic Peninsula in...
Aerial views of Chilean volcanoes
In my last post, I included a map of the Southern Volcanic Zone that extends south from the capital city of Santiago: https://landscapes-revealed.net/santiagos-geologic-hazards/. Flying south from Santiago to Punta Arenas on Monday, we were fortunate to have clear skies as we flew along the Andes. We made sure to get seats on the east side of the plane so that...
Santiago’s geologic hazards
When living near a plate boundary, one must expect geologic hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. For example, along the west coast of the U.S. a transform plate boundary (San Andreas fault) causes earthquakes throughout California. To the north, along the coast of northern California, Oregon and Washington, a convergent (subduction) plate boundary causes volcanic eruptions in the Cascade...
Back to Chile, a geologic wonderland
Chile is an amazing country. The most obvious feature is its unique pencil-like shape. North–south, Chile extends 4,270 km (2,653 mi), yet east–west it extends only 64 km–356 km (40–221 miles). Another striking feature is the Andes Mountains that extend along the length of Chile. The Andean crest forms the border with Argentina to the east. The highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere,...
Santorini follow up: why so many earthquakes?
In February this year, while we were preparing for our April–May trip to Cyprus, Crete and Santorini, we noticed many earthquakes popping off in Santorini. When looking at my QuakeWatch app, I saw that literally hundreds of earthquakes occurred each day—they were drowning out almost every other location on Earth! At the time, no one seemed to know the cause...
About the Blogger
Karen (here with Mt. Shasta in background) is a geology professor emerita who aims to provide a "pocket geologist" for world travelers. Follow the blog to explore the landscapes of our planet and figure out what causes them to look the way they do.