Aisén Fjord is an ~70 km long fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

 stretching east from a skerry-guarded (skjærgård) region called Moraleda Channel

Moraleda Channel

Moraleda Channel is a body of water separating the Chonos Archipelago from the mainland of Chile. It is located at . Southward from the mouth of the Aisén Fjord, Moraleda Channel divides into two arms. The east arm, called Canal Costa , is the main one...

 , which is a body of water separating the Chonos Archipelago

Chonos Archipelago

Chonos Archipelago is a series of low mountainous elongated islands with deep bays, traces of a submerged Chilean Coast Range. Most of the islands are forested with little or no human settlement...

 from the mainland of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. It is located at 45.26°S 73.00°W and is connected indirectly to the open coast of the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 via the Darwin Channel

Darwin Channel

The Darwin Channel forms a westward continuation of the Aisén Fjord and links it to the Pacific Ocean at Isquiliac Island. It is located in the coast of Chile at approximately 45.4° south latitude. This is one of the main channels situated between the islands of the Chonos Archipelago.-References:*...

. The Aisén river discharges at the head of Aysen Fjord.

Puerto Chacabuco

Puerto Chacabuco

Puerto Chacabuco is a Chilean town in Aisén commune. Administratively it belongs to Aisén Province in Aisén Region and is located at the head of Aisén Fjord...

 is situated by the shores at the head of this fjord. Puerto Aisén lies on the Aisén River approximately 4 km above the head of Aysen Fjord. It serves as the capital for the Aisén Province

Aisén Province

Aisén Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Aisen . Its capital is Puerto Aisén.-Demographics:The province had a 2002 population of 23,498 according to the census by the National Statistics Institute. Of these, 16,180 lived in urban areas and 13,451 in rural areas. Between...

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The region is heavily influenced by a wide tidal reach (up to 8 meters). It lies near the West Wind Drift, a major oceanic surface current which encounters the west coast of Chile at 41° S latitude. The West Wind Drift splits into the northward flowing branch which meets the Humboldt Current

Humboldt Current

The Humboldt Current , also known as the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend...

 and the southward flowing Cape Horn Current

Cape Horn Current

The Cape Horn Current is a cold water current that flows west-to-east around Cape Horn. This current is caused by the intensification of the West Wind Drift as it rounds the cape....

, providing ample heat to drive vaporization of the sea water, which results in onshore precipitation of 4,000 – 7,000 mm per year in the Chilean Andes. The moisture is driven onshore by prevailing westerly winds, the Roaring Forties

Roaring Forties

The Roaring Forties is the name given to strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40 and 49 degrees. Air displaced from the Equator towards the South Pole, which travels close to the surface between the latitudes of 30 and 60 degrees south, combines...

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Since January 2007 the fjord have suffered a series of minor earthquakes

2007 Aisén Fjord earthquake

The Aisén Fjord earthquakes were a series of seismic events of different magnitudes that occurred in Aisén Fjord from January 22, 2007, to April 22. The biggest occurred at 1:53 p.m. on April 21 and reached a felt intensity of VII on the Mercalli intensity scale. On the moment magnitude scale,...

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