The Cruces River ( es, Río Cruces) is a river in south-central Chile. Río Cruces originates from hills near the Villarica volcano and flows then in south-west direction. The southern and final part of the river flows in a south-south-west direction following the eastern flank of

Cordillera de Oncol The Cordillera de Oncol (sometimes called Valdivian Coast Range) is a mountain range, located along the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in southern Chile. It is part of the Chilean Coast Range System (''Cordillera de la Costa''). It was named for the ...

. At the latitude of the city of

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...

it is crossed by

Río Cruces Bridge Río Cruces Bridge is a triangular bridge spanning Cruces River that unites Isla Teja from Torobayo, a sub-urban area of Valdivia. Together with Pedro de Valdivia Bridge (built in 1954) it allows connection from Valdivia to the coastal town Nie ...

next to its outflow into

Valdivia River The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in ...

. The

1960 Valdivia earthquake The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami ( es, link=no, Terremoto de Valdivia) or the Great Chilean earthquake (''Gran terremoto de Chile'') on 22 May 1960 was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Various studies have placed it at 9.4– ...

caused c. 2 m of subsidence around Valdivia. As a result of this, a large area of former pastures and cultivated fields around the lower course of Cruces River was permanently flooded.Ramirez, C., E. Carrasco, S. Mariani & N. Palacios. 2006. La desaparición del luchecillo (Egeria densa) del Santuario del Rio Cruces (Valdivia, Chile): una hipótesis plausible. Ciencia & Trabajo, 20: 79-86 Over the years the new wetlands were colonized chiefly by ''

Egeria densa ''Egeria densa'', the large-flowered waterweed or Brazilian waterweed, is a species of '' Egeria'' native to warm temperate South America in southeastern Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. It is considered a problematic invasive species due t ...

'' ( es, luchecillo). ''Egeria densa'' and other aquatic plants created a rich

aquatic ecosystem An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The t ...

that attracted a permanent bird fauna, notably

black-necked swan The black-necked swan (''Cygnus melancoryphus'') is a species of waterfowl in tribe Cygnini of subfamily Anserinae.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the bir ...

s. The protected area of

Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary Río Cruces Chorocamayo Nature Sanctuary (Spanish: Santuario de la naturaleza Carlos Anwandter) is protected wetland in Cruces River about north of Valdivia, Chile. The sanctuary is named after the German politician Carlos Anwandter who settled i ...

was created in 1981 to protect the ecosystem. Coincident with the opening of the

Valdivia Pulp Mill The Valdivia Pulp Mill or Planta Valdivia is a pulp mill and biomass-fueled power station, electrical generating station in San José de la Mariquina, Los Ríos Region, Chile. Although the main activity is wood pulp production, it also generates 61 ...

in 2004 there was a sharp decline of the black-necked swan population in the wetlands of the lower course of Cruces River. An estimated 96.4% of the black-necked swan population died or migrated in about six months.Delgado, L.E., V.H. Marin, P.L. Bachmann & M. Torres-Gómez. 2009. Conceptual models for ecosystem management through the participation of local social actors: the Rio Cruces wetland conflict. ''

Ecology and Society ''Ecology and Society'' (formerly ''Conservation Ecology'') is a quarterly open access interdisciplinary academic journal published by the Resilience Alliance. It covers an array of disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the ...

'', 14(1): 50. URL

/ref> The event unleashed a large

environmental conflict Environmental conflicts or ecological distribution conflicts (EDCs) are social conflicts caused by environmental degradation or by unequal distribution of environmental resources.Libiszewski, Stephan.What is an Environmental Conflict." ''Journal ...

between citizens of Valdivia and nearby areas and

Celulosa Arauco y Constitución Celulosa Arauco y Constitución (also called CELCO or ARAUCO) is a Chilean wood pulp, engineered wood and forestry company controlled by Anacleto Angelini's economic group; Empresas Copec. In 2006 CELCO/ARAUCO had five pulp mills in Chile and o ...

, the owner of the pulp mill. A decline of the ''Egeria densa'' that swans feed on has been linked to the death and migration of the swans. A 2020 study indicate that whenever the sum of the water discharge of Cruces and Calle-Calle rivers falls below saltwater reaches

's water supply site at Cuesta Soto in Calle-Calle River. Such events tend to happen in autumn and are expected to become more frequent in the future due to a trend of diminished rainfall.

Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

s around the lower course of the river are

trumao Trumao is the name of a soil of the Andosol order found in southern and central Chile. Trumaos are formed from young volcanic ash, by volcanic ash redeposited by aeolian processes or by volcanic ash mobilized as alluvium. Trumaos are characterized ...

s and

red clay soil Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. The word "Ultisol" is derived from "ultimate", because Ultisols were seen as the ultimate product of continu ...

Gallery

File:Confluencia_Río_Cruces_Río_Valdivia.jpg, Aerial view of Cruces River at its confluence with Valdivia River File:Valdivia_Vista.JPG, View of Valdivia from the western side of Cruces River

References

{{coord, 39, 42, 26, S, 73, 11, 51, W, display=title Rivers of Chile Rivers of Los Ríos Region

Gallery

See also

References