200px, Map of the climatic regions of the Andes. The Wet Andes are shown in dark blue. The Dry Andes are shown in yellow and the Tropical Andes in green.">Tropical_Andes.html" ;"title="Dry Andes are shown in yellow and the Tropical Andes">Dry Andes are shown in yellow and the Tropical Andes in green.
The Wet Andes () is a climatic and glaciology, glaciological subregion of the Andes. Together with the Dry Andes it is one of the two subregions of the Argentina, Argentine and Chilean Andes. The Wet Andes runs from a latitude of
35°S to
Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
at
56°S. According to
Luis Lliboutry the Wet Andes can be classified after the absence of
penitentes. In Argentina well developed penitentes are found as south as on
Lanín Volcano (
40°S).
Another difference is that the Wet Andes is largely devoid of
rock glaciers.
The
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s of the Wet Andes have a far more stable line of equilibrium than those of the Dry Andes due to summer precipitations, low thermal oscillations and an overall high moisture.
References
{{coord missing, Chile
Andes
Ecology of the Andes
Climate of Argentina
Climate of Chile
Climatic and glaciological subregions of the Andes
Glaciers of Chile