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Northern Patagonian Ice Field
The Northern Patagonian Ice Field, located in Chile (centered near ), refers to the smaller of two remnant parts in which the Patagonian Ice Sheet in the Andes Mountains of lower South America can be divided. It is completely contained within the boundaries of Laguna San Rafael National Park. The Northern Patagonian Ice Field is a vestige of an extensive ice sheet that covered much of Patagonia just over a million years ago. Today, with its glaciers largely in retreat and only an area of 4,200 km, it is still the largest continuous mass of ice outside of the polar regions. Survival is based on its elevation , favorable terrain, and a cool, moist, marine climate. The ice field has 28 exit glaciers, the largest twoSan Quintin and San Rafaelnearly reach sea level to the west at the Pacific Ocean. Smaller exit glaciers, like San Valentin and Nef, feed numerous rivers and glacially carved lakes to the east.
See also
Patagonian Ice Sheet
Southern Patagonian Ice Field
List of glaciers
References
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Northern Patagonian Ice Field
