Puelo River
Bridge on the Carretera Austral
Puelo River is located in Chile
Puelo River
Location of mouth
Native nameRío Puelo (Spanish)
Location
Countries
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationPuelo Lake
Mouth 
 • location
Reloncaví Estuary (Pacific Ocean)
 • coordinates
42°07′00″S 71°43′00″W / 42.116667°S 71.716667°W / -42.116667; -71.716667
Discharge 
 • average670 m3/s (24,000 cu ft/s)[1]

The Puelo River has its origin in Lake Puelo in Argentine, and flows north-west through the Andes into Chile and the Reloncaví Estuary of the Reloncaví Sound at the northern end of the Gulf of Ancud.[2]

Course

Just 800 metres (2,600 ft) downstream from its source in Puelo Lake, the river enters Inferior Lake.[3] After leaving the lake, the river flows in a generally northwesterly direction, receiving the waters of a chain of lakes, the largest being Azul and Las Rocas. It also receives the waters of Ventisquero and Traidor rivers. A part of the northernmost border of Pumalín Park approximately parallels the course of the Ventisquero River. Traidor River rises in Hornopirén National Park.

A large northern tributary of the Puelo, the Manso, has its sources in Mascardi Lake and other lakes and streams south-east of the Cerro Tronador, also in Argentina, and flows south-west through the Andes to unite with the Puelo a few kilometers west of the 72nd meridian.[4] Puelo river's lower course is impeded in such a manner as to form three small lakes, called Superior, Inferior and the Tagua Tagua Lake.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Hidrografía Región de los Lagos". Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  2. ^ "Rio Puelo". GeoNames. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Chebez, J.C. (2005). Patagonia Norte. Guía de las Reservas Naturales de la Argentina.
  4. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chile" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 144.
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