Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego

A true-color image of Tierra del Fuego captured by NASA's Terra satellite on March 28, 2003.

Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for "Land of Fire", in English pronounced /tiˈɛərə dɛl ˈfweɪgoʊ]/; Spanish IPA: [ˈtjerað̞elˈfweɰo]) is an archipelago 73,753 km² (28,476 sq mi) separated from the southernmost tip of the South American mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The southern point of the archipelago forms Cape Horn.

History

File:HMSBeagle.jpeg

HMS "Beagle", watercolor by Owen Stanley (1841)

In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese sailor in service to the Spanish King, became the first European to navigate the strait - later named for him - during his global circumnavigation voyage. It was during this journey that he discovered and named Tierra del Fuego (meaning "Land of Fire"). Originally he called the "Land of Smoke," but it was later changed to Land of Fire.

The fires he saw were those of the indigenous Yamana people who lived in the southern part of the island, in order to ward off the low temperatures in the area.

While various navigators traversed the area, no systematic exploration was attempted until the British Admiralty undertook a thorough survey of the entire archipelago. The Strait of Magellan was first carefully explored and thoroughly charted by Phillip Parker King, who commanded the British survey vessel HMS Adventure, and in company with HMS Beagle, spent five years surveying the complex coasts around the Strait. The result was presented at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in 1831. Surveys of the archipelago itself lasted from 1826 to 1836.

In 1830, Captain Robert FitzRoy, on his first voyage with the Beagle, took a group of hostages from the Fuegian indigenous people after one of his boats was stolen. He decided to take four of the young hostages with him to England "to become useful as interpreters, and be the means of establishing a friendly disposition towards Englishmen on the part of their countrymen." It is reported that he showed great concern for the four, feeding them before his own officers and crew and intending them to be educated and Christianized so that they could improve the conditions of their kin.

The Beagle arrived in Plymouth in mid-October 1830. The newspapers soon began publishing details of the exotic visitors and they became celebrities. In London, they met King William IV and Queen Adelaide.

One year later, the Beagle returned the three surviving Fuegians home, still captained by FitzRoy and at great expense to himself. He took with him a young naturalist, Charles Darwin, in what was the second voyage of HMS Beagle.

For 350 years after Magellan’s voyage, the region remained in the control of its indigenous peoples, the Ona, Yahgan, and Alacaluf Indians.

Colonization by Chilean and Argentine nationals in 1880 was the beginning of sheep farming in the archipelago as well as the discovery of gold. Both countries claimed it in its entirety. In 1881 it was divided between these two countries.

The discovery of petroleum at Manantiales in 1945 converted the northern part of Tierra del Fuego into Chile’s only oil field.

Geography

The city of Ushuaia

The city of Puerto Williams

Stopanni Glacier in Cordillera Darwin

Hoste Island, Chile

The archipelago consists of a main island (Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, often simply called Tierra del Fuego or Isla Grande) with an area of 48,100 km² (18,572 sq mi), and a group of smaller islands.

Half of this island, and the islands west and south of it, are part of the Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region, the capital and chief town of which is Punta Arenas, situated on the mainland across the strait. The largest Chilean towns are Porvenir, capital of the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego, on the main island, and Puerto Williams, on Navarino Island, being the capital of the Antártica Chilena Province. Puerto Toro lies a few kilometers south of Puerto Williams and is the southernmost village in the world.

The eastern part of the archipelago belongs to Argentina, being part of the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctic Territory and South Atlantic Islands Province; its capital is Ushuaia, the largest city of the archipelago, and the other important city in the region is Río Grande, on the Atlantic coast.

The Cordillera Darwin is a short mountain range mantled by an ice field. It is located in the southwestern portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, entirely within the Chilean territory. It is part of the longest Andes range and includes the highest mountains in Tierra del Fuego, with elevations reaching over 2,000 m. Darwin Range extends in a west-east direction from the Monte Sarmiento in the vicinity of Magdalena Channel to Yendegaia valley. It is bounded by the Almirantazgo Fjord on the north and the Beagle Channel on the south. The range is named after Charles Darwin and is the most important feature of Alberto de Agostini National Park.

Climate

The climate in this region is very inhospitable. It is a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfc) with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderate winters: the northeast is characterized by strong winds and little precipitation, in the south and west it is very windy, foggy, and wet for most of the year and there are very few days without rain, slush, hail or snow. The permanent snow-line begins at 700 m (2300 ft) above sea level. Isla de los Estados, 230 km (143 mi) east of Ushuaia, receives 1,400 mm (55 in) of rain. Rainfall is heavier in the west, 3,000 mm (118 in) a year. Temperatures are steady throughout the year: in Ushuaia they hardly surpass 9 °C (50 °F) in summers and average 0 °C (30 °F) in winters. Snowfall can occur in summer. The cold and wet summers help preserve the ancient glaciers. The southernmost islands possess subantarctic climate typical of tundra that makes the growth of trees impossible. Some areas in the interior that have polar climate. Regions in the world with similar climates to southern Tierra del Fuego are: Aleutian islands, Iceland, Alaska Peninsula and Faroe Islands.

Flora

Drimys winteri flowers

Nothofagus antarctica

Nothofagus pumilio

Nothofagus betuloides

Only 30% of the islands have forests which are classified as Magellanic subpolar; the northeast is made up by steppe and cool semidesert.

There are six species of trees found in Tierra del Fuego: Canelo or Winter's Bark (Drimys winteri), Maytenus magellanica, Pilgerodendron uviferum the southernmost conifer in the world , and three kinds of Southern Beech; Nothofagus antarctica, Nothofagus pumilio and the evergreen Nothofagus betuloides. Very delicious fruits grow in open spaces in these forests, this is the case of beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis var. chiloensis forma chiloensis) and calafate (berberis buxifolia), which were and are collected respectively by Indians and countrymen. These forests are unique in the world for having developed in a climate with such cold summers (around 9 °C (50 °F)). Tree cover extends very close to the southernmost tip of South America. Winds are so strong that trees in wind-exposed areas grow twisted by the force of winds, and people call the trees "flag-trees" for the shape that they need to take in the fight with the wind. Tree vegetation extends as far south as the Isla de los Estados, Navarino Island and the north of Hoste Island. At altitudes above 500 m (1,640 ft), dwarf nothofagus communities are found. Going further south, Wollaston Islands and the south of Hoste Island are covered by subantarctic tundra. Forests from Tierra del Fuego have expanded beyond local importance, they have been a source of trees that have been planted abroad in places with practically the same climate but which were originally devoid of trees like Faroe Islands and nearby archipelagos. Most of species were gathered from the coldest places in Tierra del Fuego, sites mainly with tundra borders. This effort resulted in positive changes, as the heavy winds and cool summers in the Faroe Islands did not allow the growth of trees from other regions in the world. The imported trees are used ornamentally, as curtains against wind and for fighting erosion caused by storms and grazing in the Faroe Islands.

Fauna

Sea lions at the Beagle Channel near Ushuaia

Among the most notable animals in the archipelago that are found: parakeets, seagulls, guanacos, foxes, kingfishers, condors, owls, and firecrown hummingbirds. North American beaver, introduced in the 1940s, have proliferated and caused considerable damage to the island's forests.

Salmoninae

Like mainland Chile and Argentina to the North, the archipelago boasts some of the finest trout fishing in the world. Sea Run Brown Trout often exceed 9 kg (20 lb), particularly in rivers such as the Rio Grande and San Pablo and in the Lago Fagnano. Much of this water is private, catch and release and fly fishing only.

Economy

The main industries are oil, natural gas, sheep farming and ecotourism. On the Argentine side there are several electronic companies established. Tierra del Fuego is also home to the small brewing company Cervecería Fueguina, which produces three beers under the Beagle brand name.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bridges, E. Lucas. 1987. Uttermost part of the earth. The Century travellers. London: Century. ISBN 0712614931
• Hazlewood, Nick. 2000. Savage: the life and times of Jemmy Button. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340739112
• Keynes, Richard, and Keith Thomson. 2002. "Book reviews - Fossils, Finches and Fuegians: Charles Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on the Beagle, 1832-1836". Nature. 418 (6895): 277. OCLC 94883590
• Bollen, Patrick, Dree Peremans, and Cora Weir. 2000. Tierra del Fuego. Tielt: Lannoo. ISBN 9020940406

External links

All Links Retrieved December 20, 2008.

• Official website of Argentine Tierra del Fuego
• Patagonia Expedition Race

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