This mountain is in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile. It is one of several closely spaced, vertical-granite monoliths that form a very scenic glacial arête (see one of my earlier posts regarding these geomorphic features, which consist of jagged ridge lines formed by glacial-and wind erosion). These sheer rock towers are located near the village of Chalten and near Viedma Lake.
Mt. Fitz Roy area, southern Argentinan (Google Earth image)
Mount Fitz Roy is named in honor of Fritz Roy, captain of the HMS Beagle, who was famously associated with the naturalist/author Charles Darwin. Fritz Roy travelled into the area of southern South America and made maps of a large part of the Patagonia coastline.
Climbing Fitz Roy, or one of the other nearby vertical towers, is NOT for beginners! The highest tower of this complex is 11,171 feet (3,405 m) in elevation.
Panoramic view of Mt. Fitz Roy (the central peak)
The geologic history of Mt. Fitz Roy and the other associated towers is complex. The Pacific tectonic plate was subducted (pushed underneath) the South America tectonic plate. Magma from the Earth’s interior thereupon intruded upward through Paleozoic rocks, solidified and formed granitic bodies. Geologically younger (late Miocene = about 12 million years old) rhyolite extrusives (plutons) also were formed in association with the tectonic forces, and these severely affected the older rocks. Eventually, winds, snow, ice/frost, and melt-waters have severely eroded any exposed rocks. In sum, the eroded remnants visible in the arête today (Mt. Fitz Roy and its satellite peaks) have have undergone a very complex geologic history (Ramirez et al., 2008).
Reference Consulted:
Ramirez, C. and two others. 2008. Magmatic history of the Fitz Roy plutonic complex, southern Pagagonia (Argentina). Pdf available for free.
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