View of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field, lo-cated in the Laguna San Rafael National Park, 1300 km south of Santiago, Chile, on October 29, 2007. The Northern Patagonian Ice field, which covers 200 km long and a surface of about 4200 square kilometers, is a vestige of a large ice sheet that cov-ered much of Patagonia million years ago. The park is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve since 1979.

圖為北巴塔哥尼亞冰原，位於智利聖地牙哥以南1300公里拉瓜尼亞聖拉斐爾國家公園內，照片攝於10月29日。北巴塔哥尼亞冰原有200公里長，面積4200平方公里。冰原是一百萬年前覆蓋大半巴塔哥尼亞那一大片冰層的遺跡。公園自1979年起被列為聯合國教科文組織世界生物圈保護區。

Today, with its glaciers largely in retreat, it is still the largest continuous mass of ice outside of the polar regions. Survival is based on its elevation (1,100 to 1,500 m), favorable terrain, and a cool, moist, marine climate. The ice field has 28 exit glaciers, the largest two—San Quintin and San Rafael—nearly reach sea level to the west at the Pacific Ocean. Smaller exit glaciers feed numerous rivers and glacially carved lakes to the east.

今天，雖然北巴塔哥尼亞冰原的冰河大半退化，它仍是除了南北極地區之外最大的連續冰原大陸塊。生存視其海拔高度（1,000至1,500公尺）、地利和寒冷潮溼的海洋氣候而定。冰原上共有28處出口冰河，其中兩個最大的聖昆汀和聖拉斐爾冰河在太平洋以西，幾乎達到海平面。較小的出口冰河流入無數河川及東方由冰河切割形成的湖泊。