Study of Subterranean Floods in Oceanic Subpolar Karst of Madre de Dios Archipelago (Patagonia, Chile)

Laurent Morel (1) , Stéphane Jaillet (2) , Richard Maire (3) , Tous Les Membres de L'Expédition Ultima Patagonia

1 AMPERE - Ampère
2 EDYTEM - Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne
3 ADES - Aménagement, Développement, Environnement, Santé et Sociétés

Madre de Dios archipelago is located, at 50°30′ S, on the Pacific front. The karst areas in the reef limestone of Upper Paleozoic of Chilean Patagonia have long remained unexplored because of their remoteness, difficult access and very inhospitable cold, wet and windy climate. The annual rainfall is 7–8 m/year−1 and the average wind speed reaches 70 kmph−1 almost unidirectional (W to NW), and involve strong floods at a high rate. To study the flood dynamics, several underground sites have been instrumented in 2008 and recovered in 2010.

Mots clés: Flood • Karst • Cave • Instrumentation • Patagonia • Chile

Domaines: Milieux et Changements globaux; Biodiversité et Ecologie; Ingénierie de l'environnement; Environnement et Société; Géographie

Laurent Morel, Stéphane Jaillet, Richard Maire, Tous Les Membres de L'Expédition Ultima Patagonia. Study of Subterranean Floods in Oceanic Subpolar Karst of Madre de Dios Archipelago (Patagonia, Chile). H2Karst Research in Limestone Hydrogeology, pp. 151-161, 2014, H2Karst Research in Limestone Hydrogeology, Environmental Earth Sciences, ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-06139-9_11⟩. ⟨hal-01349496⟩