The Pascua River is a river located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region of Chile . In spite of being a short river, its drainage basin is the seventh-largest in the country due to the great size of the O'Higgins/San Martín Lake , its source.
10-603: The Pascua River was discovered in 1898 by the German Hans Steffen , during the exploration of the area near Christmas time ( Pascua means Easter but is frequently used to describe Christmas in Chilean Spanish, thus explaining the origin of its name). The river has its source in the northern part of the north-west arm of the lake O'Higgins in the form of a small stream, in an area surrounded by steep-sided mountains that reach over 1,000 meters with glaciers spilling down to
20-574: A valley of about 10 kilometers wide, which allows the development of large meanders and some marshy and peaty zones. After 62 km, the Pascua River ends in a wide delta that empties into the Baker Channel , previously having rushed in a last area of rapids. Due to its hydrographic conditions, the Pascua River has a hydroelectric potential of great importance. There exists a controversial Endesa project to construct two massive power dams on
30-713: Is 46 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane . It crosses the Atlantic Ocean , the Indian Ocean , Australasia , the Pacific Ocean and South America . At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 45 minutes during the December solstice and 8 hours, 38 minutes during the June solstice . This holds true regardless of longitude. The largest city south of the 46th parallel
40-522: The Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina : This article led to dispute between whether the continental divide would serve as a boundary favouring Chile or the highest peaks favouring Argentina. The two interpretations coincided for most of the boundary but in the Aysén Region there were great differences. Before the explorations of Steffen, Chile had made only limited hydrographic surveys along
50-558: The Gulf of Penas , and then exploring and naming Baker , Bravo and Pascua Rivers . He also crossed the Isthmus of Ofqui . Following the Pascua River, Steffen and his companions were the first to arrive at O'Higgins Lake from the Pacific as well the first to explore its western arms. 46th parallel south Download coordinates as: The 46th parallel south is a circle of latitude that
60-712: The Instituto Pedagógico de Chile of the University of Chile (together with the Germans Alfred Beutell, Friedrich Hanssen, Friedrich Johow , Rudolf Lenz, Reinhold von Lilienthal, and Jürgen Heinrich Schneider). He was later contracted to join the Chilean boundary commission to explore areas disputed by Argentina in what is now the Aysén Region of Chile. The areas to be explored were those affected by article 1 of
70-557: The course of the river, but the proposal has generated immediate opposition from a great part of the population and in the government authorities, due to the serious ecological damage that would cause in the zone. 48°14′S 73°16′W / 48.233°S 73.267°W / -48.233; -73.267 Hans Steffen Hans Steffen Hoffman (20 July 1865, in Fürstenwerder , Prussia – 7 April 1936, in Davos , Switzerland)
80-569: The intricate Pacific coast of Aysén. The inland areas in dispute had been mainly explored by Argentines, notably Francisco Perito Moreno . Between 1893 and 1894 he explored with the Chilean Navy the basins of the Palena and Puelo Rivers . He explored the Manso , Aisén and Cisnes Rivers from 1896 to 1898. He then moved on to explore the channels south of Taitao Peninsula ( 46°S ) mapping and describing
90-455: The lake or to the river. The river flows quickly forming rapids until it creates a cascade in the place where it falls into the Chico Lake. After leaving this lake, the river forms a new cascade and rushes furiously, preventing any type of navigation on its waters. Then the river is joined by the "Quiroz River" from the left, whose origin is the glacier of the same name, increasing its width in
100-472: Was a German geographer and explorer of the Aysén Region in western Patagonia . Steffen also worked as a teacher , encyclopedist and historian. Steffen Glacier on the Northern Patagonian Ice Field is named after him. In 1889, Hans Steffen, who had obtained his doctorate in 1886, was invited by José Manuel Balmaceda to Santiago , where he became a teacher of history and geography at
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