Liquiñe is a town in Liquiñe Valley

Liquiñe River

The Liquiñe River is a in the Andes of Los Ríos Region, Chile. The river is most known for the many hotsprings the upwell at its middle reaches where the town of Liquiñe is currently placed.-References:*...

, in Panguipulli

Panguipulli, Chile

Panguipulli is city and commune in Valdivia Province, southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Panguipulli. The town is known for its natural beauty and is called "City of roses" . Panguipulli is located on the western edge of Panguipulli Lake, and is on a moraine in the Chilean Central...

 commune, Valdivia Province

Valdivia Province

Valdivia Province is one of two provinces of the southern Chilean region of Los Ríos . The provincial capital is Valdivia. Located in the province are two important rivers, the Calle-Calle / Valdivia River and the Cruces River.It is part of Northern Patagonia and its wild virgin forest embrace the...

, 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...

. The area around the village is home to South America's

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 densest collection of hot spring

Hot spring

A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...

s. There are literally hundred of sites where geothermal waters flow up out of the earth. The water emerges from the ground at roughly 176°F (80°C). Therefore, the water must be cooled before being fed into pools for bathing.

The Liquiñe Hot Springs feature geothermally-heated mineral water. The water contains silica, calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

, lithium

Lithium

Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that belongs to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. It is represented by the symbol Li, and it has the atomic number 3. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly...

, iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, potassium

Potassium

Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...

, sodium

Sodium

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...

 and sulfur

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

, as well as other minerals. Geologically it lies at the north end of the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault

Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault

The Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault is major geological fault that runs a length of roughly 1000 km in a north-south direction and exhibits current seismicity . It is located in the Chilean northern patagonean Andes. It is a dextral intra-arc transform fault...

. There is a triple junction fault nearby and several andesitic volcanoes.

The road to Carirriñe Pass

Carirriñe Pass

Carirriñe Pass is an international mountain pass in the Andes between Chile and Argentina. The pass connects Coñaripe and Liquiñe in Chile with Junín de los Andes in Argentina. At the site of the pass some of the southernmost Araucaria trees grows. The road is not paved and the pass may be closed...

 goes through Liquiñe, allowing transit to and from Junín de los Andes

Junín de los Andes

Junín de los Andes is a village in the province of Neuquén, Argentina. It has 10,592 inhabitants as of the , and is the head town of the Huiliches Department...

 in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. However, this mountain pass is only open during the summer months of January and February.

External links

• A guide to Liquiñe