Stop 2: Chile

Hi blog readers! I had a long flight that got delayed, but i finally made it to
Chile! This is the absolutely beautiful view from my campsite, i really recommend you stay here because its amazing and the people are so nice.

Photo From: http://www.destination360.com/south-america/chile

Anyways, now i will get started on telling you some of the stuff i came here for. I have been studying the subduction boundary between the Nazca plate and the South American plate. Subduction boundaries can either happen between two oceanic plates or an oceanic plate and a continental plate. This subdution boundary is between a continental plate and oceanic plate. At subduction boundaries a deep long trench forms called a deep-sea trench. These trenches form along with a chain of volcanic islands or mountains. A subduction boundary happens when two plates converge and the denser oceanic plate subducts, or sinks beneath the less-dense continental plate. This is when the deep-sea trench forms and a mountain chain and volcanoes form inland on the overriding continental plate. That why there is also a lot of volcanic activity here in Chile. This is exactly how a subduction boundary works: 

Photo from: http://tectonictour.blogspot.com/2011/04/andes-mountains.html

I don't know if you remember this, but on Saturday February 27, 2010 at 6:34 local time a huge earthquake happened here in Chile. It had a magnitude of 8.8 on the scale and triggered a tsunami that wiped out a large port. 

Also, Chile is the home of one of the largest mountain chains in the world, the Andes. This mountain range is caused by the convergent boundary of the Nazca and South American plate and runs all the way down the border of Chile. There are also four main active volcanic zones in the Andes mountains, separated by sets of inactive volcanoes. 

I am signing off from Chile , to get back on schedule and meet my 80 day deadline I got to  get on a plane quick and make it to the Himalayas in Asia. My flight leaves early tomorrow morning so I should get some sleep! Bye bye for now!

Longitude & Latitude: 35° 40' S / 71° 32' W