Chile Triple Junction

The Chile Triple Junction is a geologic triple junction located on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean off the Taitao and Tres Montes Peninsulas on the southern coast of Chile. Here, three tectonic plates meet: the South American Plate, the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate.

This triple junction is an example of subduction and a diverging boundary. It is unusual because it consists of a mid-oceanic ridge, the Chile Rise, subducted under the South American Plate at the Peru-Chile Trench.

The Antarctic Plate started to subduct beneath South America approximately 14 million years ago in the Miocene epoch forming the Chile Triple Junction. At first, the Antarctic Plate was subducted only in the southernmost tip of Patagonia, meaning that the Chile Triple Junction lay near the Strait of Magellan.

As the southern part of the Nazca Plate and the Chile Rise became consumed by subduction, the more northerly regions of the Antarctic Plate began to subduct beneath Patagonia so that the Chile Triple Junction advanced gradually to its present position in front of the Taitao Peninsula.

The Peru–Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, delineates the boundary between the subducting Nazca Plate and the overriding South American Plate.

The Chile triple junction is the only modern site on Earth where a subduction zone is swallowing an actively spreading mid-ocean ridge crest at a continental margin. The Chile Rise continues to spread as it is thrust beneath the continental margin of South America.

In 1960, the Chilean subduction zone was host to the largest earthquake ever recorded; a magnitude 9.8 quake ruptured over 1,000 km (621 miles) along the Chile margin. This earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami that caused damage to coastal areas throughout the Pacific Ocean as far away as Japan.

The Taitao Peninsula lies near the triple junction; various geological features, such as the Taitao ophiolite, are related to the dynamics of the triple junction.

_{Map of the Nazca Plate: the Chile Triple Junction is located on the lower right where the Nazca meets the Antarctic and South American plates}

Taitao Peninsula

The Taitao Peninsula is a westward projection of the Chile mainland, with which the narrow Isthmus of Ofqui connects it.

It is situated in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region. A part of this peninsula is located inside the boundaries of Laguna San Rafael National Park. The Presidente Ríos Lake, with a surface area of 352 sq km (136 sq mi), lies in the middle of the peninsula.

A southward incurving projection of the outer shoreline of this peninsula is known as Tres Montes Peninsula, the most southern point of which is a cape of the same name.

The vegetation types of the peninsula vary. In the western fringes of the peninsula, towards Tres Montes Peninsula, the shrubland of Pilgerodendron uvifera and Nothofagus nitida grows. Amidst this shrubland, occasional peatlands and forests exist.

In the central parts of the peninsula, including the shores of Presidente Ríos Lake, forests of Nothofagus betuloides and Drimys winteri are to be found.

Cushion peatlands of Donatia fascicularis and Oreobolus obtusangulus occupy the higher mountains of the peninsula.

In the east, near San Rafael Lake, a Nothofagus betuloides forest with an understory of Desfontainia fulgens, Blechnum magellanicum, Fuchsia magellanica and Raukaua laetevirens grows.

_{Topography map of southern Chile with Taitao and Tres Montes peninsulas at far lower left}

Tres Montes Peninsula

The Tres Montes Peninsula (Three Hills Peninsula) is a southwestward projection of the Taitao Peninsula, which connects to the mainland of Chile by the narrow Isthmus of Ofqui.

The peninsula is situated in Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, close to the Chile Triple Junction of the Nazca Plate, Antarctic Plate and South American Plate.

_{Map depicting the Región Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, Chile}