Abstract
The climate of Isla de los Estados is strongly influence by the centre of the sub-polar low pressure which develops around the Antarctic Circle. The current climate of Isla de los Estados is cold and humid and corresponds to general classification of Oceanic Insular Cold Climate. Summer has a mean temperature of 8.3 °C, with mean daily extremes of 16.2 and 3 °C. Winter mean temperature is 3.3 °C, with mean daily extremes of 7.4 and −4 °C. Though no reliable records are yet available, rainfall is estimated to be in the range of 2,000 mm/year, but actual precipitation may be highly variable across the island, particularly in altitude. Prevailing winds are from the southwest and the northwest and they are active throughout the year. Isla de los Estados is washed by the western branch of the Malvinas/Falkland current, an arm of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that brings cold Sub-Antarctic waters.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arnett JS (1958) Principal tracks of southern hemisphere extratropical cyclones. Monthly Weather Rev 86:41–44
Burgos JJ (1985) Clima del extremo sur de Sudamérica. In: Boelcke O, Moore DM, Roig FA (eds) Transecta botánica de la patagonia austral. CONICET, Instituto de la Patagonia and Royal Society, pp 10–40
Bagnati RH Derrotero AP III (1962) Archipiélago Fueguino Islas Malvinas 3° (ed) I. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval p 324
Deacon GER (1937) The hydrology of the Southern Ocean. Discov Rep 15:1–24
Deacon GER (1960) The southern cold temperate zone. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society. Series B 152:441–447
Deacon GER (1963) The Southern Ocean. In: Hill MN (ed) The Sea, Interscience Publisher, London, 2:281–296
De Fina AL (1972) El clima de la región de los bosques Andino-patagónicos argentinos. In: Dimitri M (ed) La región de los bosques andino-patagónicos. Sinopsis general. Colección científica del INTA (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria) Buenos Aires 10:35–58
Dudley TR, Crow GE (1983) A contribution to the Flora and Vegetation of Isla de los Estados (Staaten Island), Tierra del Fuego, American Geophysical Union, Antarctic Research Series, Argentina, vol 37, Washington DC, pp 1–26
Endlicher W, SantanaA (1988) El clima del sur de la Patagonia y sus aspectos ecológicos. Un siglo de mediciones climatológicas en Punta arenas. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, Serie ciencias naturales Punta Arenas, Chile 18:57–86
García MC (1986–87), Estudio de algunos rasgos geomorfológicos de la Isla de los Estados. Unpublished graduation thesis, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires and Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas, CONICET, Ushuaia, p 55
Gordon AL (1967) Structure of Antarctic waters between 20° W and 170° W. Antarctic Map Folio Series, USA
Gordon AL, Goldberg RD (1970) Circumpolar characteristic of Antarctic waters Antarctic Map Folio Series. 18, American Geographical Society of New York, New York, 13:1–19
Hamon BV, Godfrey JS (1978) Role of the oceans. In: Pittock AB, Frakes LA, Jenssen D, Peterson JA, Zillman JW (eds) Change and variability: a southern perspective. Cambridge University Press, UK, pp 31–52
Heusser CJ (2003) Ice age southern andes. A chronicle of paleoecological events. Developments in quaternary science 3. series editor: Jim rose. Elsevier, 5–10
Iturraspe R, Sottini R, Shroder C, Escobar J (1989) Generación de información hidro-climática en tierra del fuego. In: Hidrología y variables climáticas en Tierra del Fuego. Inf Básica Contr Cient 7. CADIC, Ushuaia, pp 4–170
Knoche W, Borzacov J (1947) Provincias Climáticas de la Argentina. In: Geografía de la República Argentina (GAEA), Buenos Aires 6:140–174
Köppen W (1936) Das geographische Sistem der Klimate. In: Köppen W, Geiger R (eds) Hadbuch der klimatologie 1C verlag von gebruder borntraeger, Berlin, pp 1–44
Kühnemann O (1976) Observaciones ecológicas sobre la vegetación marina y terrestre de la Isla de los estados (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). Ecosur, Argentina 3(6):121–248
Prohaska F (1976) The climate of argentina paraguay and uruguay. In: Schwerdtfeger W (ed) Climate of central and south america. World survey of climatology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 12:13–112
Nacional SM (1982–1986) Unpublished reports, CADIC, Ushuaia, p 87
Nacional SM (1994) El archipiélago de tierra del fuego. Unpublished report, Ushuaia, p 21
Taljaard JJ (1972) Synoptic meteorology of the southern hemisphere. Meteorol Monogr 13:139–213
Tuhkanen S (1992) The climate of Tierra del Fuego from a vegetation geographical point of view and its ecoclimatic counterparts elsewhere. Acta Botanica Fennica, 125:4–17
Zamora E, Santana A (1979) Oscilaciones y tendencias térmicas en Punta Arenas entre 1888 Y 1979. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, Punta Arenas, Chile 10:145–154
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ponce, J.F., Fernández, M. (2014). Climate. In: Climatic and Environmental History of Isla de los Estados, Argentina. SpringerBriefs in Earth System Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4363-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4363-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4362-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4363-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)