Fjords and channels of Chile
Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a map or a globe? If you have, you might have noticed that some countries have really long, skinny bodies. Chile is one of those countries.
Now, imagine you are looking at a big piece of clay or dough. If you take your fingers and press straight down into the dough, you will create a long, skinny dent that goes down really deep. That's kind of like what happened to Chile!
Long ago, there were big, powerful forces deep under the Earth that made the land in Chile squeeze together and push up in some places. In other places, the land sank down and the ocean came in. When this happened, the water filled in the low parts of the land, creating little rivers and streams that eventually became fjords (pronounced fee-yordz).
Fjords are like big, narrow inlets of ocean that go really far inland. They often have steep cliffs on either side and can be very deep. It's kind of like if you took a river and made it really, really wide and really, really deep.
Channels are similar to fjords, but they are usually wider and not as deep. They are like big, curvy highways for boats to travel through.
So in Chile, the fjords and channels were created by the land sinking down and the ocean coming in. They are really cool to visit and explore, but they can also be dangerous because of the deep water and strong currents.
Now, imagine you are looking at a big piece of clay or dough. If you take your fingers and press straight down into the dough, you will create a long, skinny dent that goes down really deep. That's kind of like what happened to Chile!
Long ago, there were big, powerful forces deep under the Earth that made the land in Chile squeeze together and push up in some places. In other places, the land sank down and the ocean came in. When this happened, the water filled in the low parts of the land, creating little rivers and streams that eventually became fjords (pronounced fee-yordz).
Fjords are like big, narrow inlets of ocean that go really far inland. They often have steep cliffs on either side and can be very deep. It's kind of like if you took a river and made it really, really wide and really, really deep.
Channels are similar to fjords, but they are usually wider and not as deep. They are like big, curvy highways for boats to travel through.
So in Chile, the fjords and channels were created by the land sinking down and the ocean coming in. They are really cool to visit and explore, but they can also be dangerous because of the deep water and strong currents.