A NEW BATHYMETRIC PERSPECTIVE OF THE BAKER-MARTINEZ FJORD COMPLEX

Andrés Rivera, a researcher of the CECs Glaciology Laboratory, together with an international team of experts, built a bathymetric map of the Baker-Martinez fjord complex in the XI Region of Aysen. It was done with an echo sounding system survey and SHOA (The Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service) references of nautical cartography. The data was processed and interpolated to obtain a 15-meter spatial resolution model for the entire fjords and channels network.

In this way, it was established that the Messier channel maximum depth is 1405 m (~ 48°04' S) while the maximum depth of the Baker channel is 1075 m. This channel connects to a fjord where the Jorge Montt glacier of the Southern Ice Field ends, the largest in the area, which has receded approximately 22 km since 1898 (Rivera et al., 2012).