Chilean Territory Research Articles

Textile Memory in Colchane: Weavers Revitalizing the Aymara Tradition

In Aymara culture, textiles have played a fundamental role as highly valued community possessions and significant media for ritual and tradition. In Chilean territory, the Colchane community has been fortunate, because they have here retained, with fidelity and vigor, their culture and traditional textile practices. However, the average age of active weavers is rising and those younger do not have the technical expertise of their elders, which has led to the loss of a significant part of traditional technical knowledge. To not forget the “handwork” became an urgent concern for artisans in the community, members of the Aymar Warmi association, who sought the support of textile professionals to develop a project that would permit them to organize in order to recover the know-how to make some pieces that they had ceased to weave. Between 2015 and 2016, we carried out the project “Memoria Textil: Reproducción y muestra de una selección aymara de Colchane,” (Fondart N 80940) which sought to revitalize local traditional weaving by creating a collection of textile pieces representative of inherited expertise. The collection remained on display in the community as reference materials to be consulted by the weavers. In the project, a methodology was defined in which the professionals assumed the role of facilitators and guides, with all decisions made by the weavers. This led to greater recognition from their peers for local teachers, who directed the transmission of knowledge that went beyond the technical and practical sphere, since together with the textiles their reason for existence was recovered, documenting the contexts in which they were used, some of them forgotten. A consequence of this initiative has been participation of these weavers in the national award Sello Indigena, a prize now received on two occasions based on the practices and pieces recovered.

The Chilean counter-revolution: Roots, dynamics and legacies of mass mobilisation against the Unidad Popular

The election of Salvador Allende and the Unidad Popular (Popular Unity) in 1970 unleashed a radical and original revolutionary process, discernible not only in the depth of its redistributive measures and the expectations it generated, but also in the ferocity with which those who identified with the counter-revolutionary ideal responded to that project. The counter-revolution, initially confined to the conservative and reactionary sectors, in a matter of months became an immense mass mobilisation that would end up paving the way for the military coup. This article analyses that counter-revolutionary process, exploring its historic roots, the main actors involved and the innovations in political practices it developed at the time. The ‘counter-revolutionary bloc’ was formed by a diverse array of political and social actors – some of whom did not have previous experience in political mobilisations – who based their actions on the adoption and socialisation of a long-standing anti-Communist script, through which they could make sense of the period’s changing reality. That script – based on decades of taking in events from other parts of the world, elaborations and accusations against all those who identified as Communists – aimed to reduce the originality of the Unidad Popular’s political project to a remake of classic socialist experiences in Chilean territory and processed in a dystopian key. The counter-revolution’s power would be projected into the military dictatorship that began in 1973, when it became a sort of official state ideology, and it would become a foundational experience for Chilean conservative sectors with reverberations even in in the present.

Flora vascular y formaciones vegetacionales en el sitio de estudios socio-ecológicos a largo plazo, isla Gonzalo, archipiélago Diego Ramírez (56°31’S), Chile

The network of Long-term Socio-ecological Research sites within the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (ltser-Cape Horn) extends today to the Gonzalo Island (56°31’S), Diego Ramirez Archipelago, as its southernmost site. This is also the southernmost island of the american continent and of the sub-antarctic ecoregion of Magallanes, housing a huge diversity of marine fauna that was intensely exploited after its discovery, exactly 400 years ago. The general objective of the ltser-Cape Horn network is to detect the impacts of global socio-environmental change and contribute to their mitigation. The specific objective of this work is to provide an updated description of the vascular flora present on Gonzalo Island, a critical monitoring site for the new Diego Ramirez Islands-Paso Drake Marine Park. The Diego Ramirez Archipelago is part of the sub-Antarctic phytogeographic region, harboring vegetation formations that are unique in the Chilean territory. Our work updated the list of vascular plant species of Gonzalo Island, the only one that is permanently inhabited. The records include eight species of vascular plants that comprise all the species of vascular plants previously recorded in the islets as well as in the three major islands of the archipelago (Gonzalo, Bartolome and North). None of the eight collected species has conservation problems. Our sampling confirmed that there has been no establishment of exotic vascular flora in Gonzalo Island. Even places that have been disturbed near the base maintained by the Chilean Navy had no presence of exotic species. Strict monitoring is recommended to prevent the establishment and dissemination of exotic plants that could potentially arrive on this island, and the Diego Ramirez Archipelago.

Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and Biological Activities of Native Chilean Plants.

The native flora of Chile has unique characteristics due to the geographical situation of the country, with the vast desert in the North, Patagonia in the South, the Andean Mountains on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west. This exclusivity is reflected in high concentrations of phytochemicals in the fruits and leaves of its native plants. Some examples are Aristotelia chilensis (Molina), Stuntz (maqui), Berberis microphylla G. Forst. (calafate), Peumus boldus Molina (boldo), Ribes magellanicum Poir. (Magellan currant), Ugni molinae Turcz. (murtilla), Rubus geoides Sm. (miñe miñe), Drimys winteri J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (canelo), Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret (arrayán) distributed throughout the entire Chilean territory. Some of these Chilean plants have been used for centuries in the country's traditional medicine. The most recent studies of phytochemical characterization of parts of Chilean plants show a wide spectrum of antioxidant compounds, phenolic components, terpenoids and alkaloids, which have shown biological activity in both in vitro and in vivo studies. This manuscript covers the entire Chilean territory characterizing the phytochemical profile and reporting some of its biological properties, focusing mainly on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, chemopreventive and cytotoxic activity, and potential against diabetes, metabolic syndrome and gastrointestinal disorders.

MAPPING AND MONITORING GROUND INSTABILITIES WITH SENTINEL-1 DATA: THE EXPERIENCE OF SERNAGEOMIN

Abstract. The application of Satellite Differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has become a reliable solution as a tool for mapping and monitoring geohazards. Few years ago, the main applications of these techniques were devoted to science. However, nowadays, the easy access to SAR imagery and the maturity of the techniques to exploit these type of data has widened the user’s spectrum from only scientists to professional and decision makers. The advent of Sentinel-1 satellites has significantly contributed to this achievement. In particular, in the field of geohazard risk management, Sentinel-1 has solved one of the main constraining factors that hindered the operational use of interferometric techniques in the past: the lack of systematic acquisition plans. In this context, Sentinel-1 assures worldwide coverage with short temporal baselines (6 to 24 days). This has supposed a definitive step towards the implementation of DInSAR based techniques to support decision makers against geohazards. In this work, we show the first experiences of the remote sensing unit of the Geological and Mining Survey of Chile (Sernageomin) with Sentinel-1 data. Three different case studies in different areas of the Chilean territory are presented. The examples illustrate how DInSAR based techniques can provide different levels of information about geohazard activity in different environments.

The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: Quantification of the Risk in Chile

Background The association between temperature and mortality has been widely established in literature. The aim of this study is to quantify the premature deaths attributable to temperature variations (heat or cold) due to climate change in order to provide results that can be easily interpreted by policy makers. The focus of the study is the Chilean territory, an interesting country to analyze due to its extremely diverse climates.Methods We estimated the mortality risk attributable to temperature variation by fitting a standard time-series Poisson model for each of the main cities, controlling for pollution, influenza, trends and day of the week. Temperature and mortality association is estimated with a distributed lag non-linear model. Consecutively, we estimated the number expected deaths by 2050 for such mortality risks using temperature projections.Results Temperature is responsible for a 0.7% increase in future expected mortality. The largest impact is located in the central region, where up to 1% of additional deaths are expected to occur due to rising temperatures. Interestingly, the opposite is observed in some regions. For example, in the North, 3.3% fewer deaths are expected to occur during the winter months. The minimum mortality temperature (MMT) varied from the 60th percentile in the central region, to the 80th-90th in the northern and southern regions, where temperatures tend to be more extreme.Conclusions Main results show a high contribution of cold temperatures in risk, with exception of the extreme southern region. Temperature is responsible of a substantial fraction of future deaths, however, opposite to expected, in certain regions as temperatures rise, fewer deaths occur, mainly due to average temperature lying below the estimated MMT. The heterogeneity of the results highlights the need of geographical-based policies, evidencing important implications for the planning of public-health interventions related to climate change.

Crónica del Reyno

Several studies have described the skeletal collections and archaeological findings associated to the Colonial period (16th to 19th centuries) in the current Chilean territory. In this article, we carried out a bibliographic review of the bioarchaeological information from human remains found in 17 sites belonging to this temporal range. This review allowed us to describe broadly the lifestyles, population characteristics and funerary patterns during this period. In this systematization we observed a correlation with the written colonial testimonies, confirming the presence of a population with a precarious health condition, the presence of diverse ancestries and funerary rituals controlled by the Catholic Church. Finally, we reflect on the analytical potential that bioarchaeological remains have to reconstruct the different realities that affected the diverse social actors from the Colonial times in Chile.

Evaluation of products 3B42 v7 and 3IMERG for the hydroclimatic regions of Chile

Data provided by products 3B42 V7 (TRMM) and its successor 3IMERG (GPM) are compared with discrete rainfall information throughout the Chilean territory covering four macro hydroclimatic zones. Precipitation data was obtained from weather stations available on a daily basis from the 1930s to present. A total of 143 stations were chosen and rainfall estimates performed for years 2014 through 2018. Applying the same metrics we showed how GPM performances improve as the temporal aggregation increases. Several drawbacks were detected in the coastal areas, which were characterized by lower accuracy performances than internal areas. However, the 3IMERG product could be a strong source of data to study the impact that climatic disturbances have on the hydrologic cycle in the Central and South zones of Chile. Additionally, its offers a fundamental source of data for remote zones or areas where access is complicated to install weather stations.

New record of Nyctinomops aurispinosus with an update of its known distribution

Nyctinomops aurispinosus is one of four species of the genus Nyctinomops (Molossidae) and is considered monotypic. This insectivorous species has a wide but poorly known neotropical distribution. This study documents the first record of the species for the Sama Valley, Tacna department, Peru. In addition, a current distribution map of the species is presented together with facts concerning its dietary composition. The specimen was collected using mist nets during a local bat study and compared with N. aurispinosus individuals in the scientific collection of the Museo de Historia Natural Javier Prado, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. The distribution map was made of published records and the diet of the specimen was analyzed by stereoscopy of the contents of its digestive tract. The collected specimen was identified as an adult male N. aurispinosus in reproductive condition. Analysis of the digestive tract contents showed that its diet was composed of lepidopterans. The current distribution map of the species consisted of a total of 78 published records. This new record for Tacna department expands the distribution of N. aurispinosus ca. 270 km to the south of Camana, Arequipa department, becoming the southernmost record for the Pacific coast. The lepidopteran remains in the digestive tract show that its diet is similar to those reported for other molossids. This finding extends the known distribution of this species to the southwest of South America and increases to ten the number of bat species known from Tacna department. The proximity of this Peruvian record to Chilean territory and regional habitat continuity suggests the probable presence of N. aurispinosus in that country.

Potential Map for the Installation of Concentrated Solar Power Towers in Chile

This study aims to build a potential map for the installation of a central receiver concentrated solar power plant in Chile under the terms of the average net present cost of electricity generation during its lifetime. This is also called the levelized cost of electricity, which is a function of electricity production, capital costs, operational costs and financial parameters. The electricity production, capital and operational costs were defined as a function of the location through the Chilean territory. Solar resources and atmospheric conditions for each site were determined. A 130 MWe concentrated solar power plant was modeled to estimate annual electricity production for each site. The capital and operational costs were identified as a function of location. The electricity supplied by the power plant was tested, quantifying the potential of the solar resources, as well as technical and economic variables. The results reveal areas with great potential for the development of large-scale central receiver concentrated solar power plants, therefore accomplishing a low levelized cost of energy. The best zone is located among the Arica and Parinacota region and the northern part of the Coquimbo region, which shows an average cost of 89 USD/MWh, with a minimum of 76 USD/MWh near Copiapó.

Assessing the effect of fire severity on sediment connectivity in central Chile

Chilean territory is recurrently affected by severe wildfires, which drastically reduce the forest cover and promote runoff, soil erosion and slope instabilities. To understand how the geomorphic system responds to wildfires in terms of sediment dynamics, the assessment of sediment connectivity, i.e. the property describing the relationships between compartments of a geomorphic system, is crucial. This study aims to quantify the spatial linkages between fire severity and sediment connectivity to identify common patterns and driving factors. The compound use of field data and open-source satellite imagery helped to apply the Relative differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR) and the Index of Connectivity (IC) in the context of two consecutive wildfires, occurred in 2002 and 2015, in the Rio Toro catchment (Chile). The fire severity assessment showed that the 2002 event affected 90% of the catchment, with high severity areas representing around 70%. The 2015 wildfire instead, affected 76% of the catchment with moderate severity around 42%. Accordingly, as result of the sudden reduction in forest cover in severely affected areas, the IC changed after both wildfires with an overall increase of 1.07 and 0.54, respectively. However, only for the second disturbance, it was possible to observe a clear relationship between the RdNBR and the IC variations. The different degree of vegetation cover heterogeneity between the two pre-wildfire scenarios contributed to different fire severity and IC variability between the two disturbances. The use of open-source satellite data and the development of a weighting factor (W), to be used in IC and able to capture the land cover change driven by the wildfires, could make the application of this approach straightforward, promoting its reproducibility in other catchments for land management and risk mitigation purposes.

Climate change projections of temperature and precipitation in Chile based on statistical downscaling

General circulation models (GCMs) allow the analysis of potential changes in the climate system under different emissions scenarios. However, their spatial resolution is too coarse to produce useful climate information for impact/adaptation assessments. This is especially relevant for regions with complex orography and coastlines, such as in Chile. Downscaling techniques attempt to reduce the gap between global and regional/local scales; for instance, statistical downscaling methods establish empirical relationships between large-scale predictors and local predictands. Here, statistical downscaling was employed to generate climate change projections of daily maximum/minimum temperatures and precipitation in more than 400 locations in Chile using the analog method, which identifies the most similar or analog day based on similarities of large-scale patterns from a pool of historical records. A cross-validation framework was applied using different sets of potential predictors from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis following the perfect prognosis approach. The best-performing set was used to downscale six different CMIP5 GCMs (forced by three representative concentration pathways, RCPs). As a result, minimum and maximum temperatures are projected to increase in the entire Chilean territory throughout all seasons. Specifically, the minimum (maximum) temperature is projected to increase by more than 2 °C (6 °C) under the RCP8.5 scenario in the austral winter by the end of the twenty-first century. Precipitation changes exhibit a larger spatial variability. By the end of the twenty-first century, a winter precipitation decrease exceeding 40% is projected under RCP8.5 in the central-southern zone, while an increase of over 60% is projected in the northern Andes.

Phylogenetic analysis of the first four SARS-CoV-2 cases in Chile.

The current pandemic caused by the new coronavirus is a worldwide public health concern. To aboard this emergency, and like never before, scientific groups around the world have been working in a fast and coordinated way to get the maximum of information about this virus when it has been almost 3 months since the first cases were detected in Wuhan province in China. The complete genome sequences of around 450 isolates are available, and studies about similarities and differences among them and with the close related viruses that caused similar epidemics in this century. In this work, we studied the complete genome of the first four cases of the new coronavirus disease in Chile, from patients who traveled to Europe and Southeast Asia. Our findings reveal at least two different viral variants entries to Chilean territory, coming from Europe and Asia. We also sub‐classified the isolates into variants according to punctual mutations in the genome. Our work contributes to global information about transmission dynamics and the importance to take control measures to stop the spread of the infection.

Characterization of an Alsodes pehuenche breeding site in the Andes of central Chile

Alsodes pehuenche, an endemic anuran that inhabits the Andes of Argentina and Chile, is considered “Critically Endangered” due to its restricted geographical distribution and multiple potential threats that affect it. This study is about the natural history of A. pehuenche and the physicochemical characteristics of a breeding site located in the Maule mountain range of central Chile. Moreover, the finding of its clutches in Chilean territory is reported here for the first time. Finally, a description of the number and morphology of these eggs is provided.

Epidermal Cartographies: Skin as Map in Chilean Art (1979-1994)

In December 1979, six years into Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship, the Chilean artist Elías Adasme staged a performance outside of the metro station Salvador in the capital Santiago (Fig. 1). The photograph registering the action shows him bare-chested, hanging upside down, his legs strapped to the entry sign of the metro. Also visible in the image is a large paper map of Chile affixed to the other arm of the pole, its size almost matching that of the artist’s body. This image is part of the photographic series A Chile (To Chile,1979) (Fig. 2) reflecting on the formal similarities existing between the human body and the characteristic length of the Chilean territory. The other photographs composing the series are variations on this first picture, taken in the more private context of the artist’s studio. One image shows Adasme and the map hanging in exactly the same position as in the first outdoor shot while, in another, the artist is back on his feet, standing next to the map with the capitalized words MAP OF CHILE running through his chest. In a third image, a fully naked Adasme stands against a dark background, his back turned away from the camera, a map of Chile projected onto his skin. One last photograph completing the series shows the artist taping print-outs of the first four photographs on the walls of Santiago.

Living on the coast without depending on coastal resources. Isotopic evidence in Central Chile

Along the Pacific coast of South America, including what is now Chilean territory, the coastal zone has been exploited since the earliest peopling of the continent and marine resources played an important role in the development of pre-Hispanic communities. Analysis of stable isotopes in human remains has confirmed the importance of marine resources in the diet of these populations; however, based on the isotope results presented here, Central Chile appears to be an exception. The analyses of stable isotopes of C, N and O that we have carried out show that occupation of coastal areas did not necessarily imply a diet based on marine resources. Individuals who lived on the coast from the Late Archaic and throughout the Early Ceramic and Late Intermediate periods present varied approaches to subsistence; only in some cases were low trophic level coastal resources the principal component of their diet. We argue that Central Chile is an unusual case in this region, when compared to populations along the rest of the Chilean coast who were highly dependent on marine foods.

Distribución geográfica del sapito de rayas o sapo variegado Nannophryne variegata Günther, 1870, nuevas localidades y comentarios sobre su hábitat en Chile y Argentina

Nannophryne variegata is an endemic species of the southern forests of Chile and Argentina. It has a wide distribution in Chilean territory and to a lesser extent, in Argentine territory. Along this extensive latitudinal distribution, it comprises different ecological regions, characterized mainly by low temperatures and high precipitation. There are few antecedents regarding habitat preferences and threats to this species. This paper reports on new distribution records in the extreme south of Chile and Argentina. It also describes the characteristics of the habitats it occupies and the representation in protected areas of both countries. N. variegata is distributed from 37o28 'to 54o00' South latitude, becoming the southernmost amphibian in the world. It inhabits different environments that include humid forest associations, peat bogs, Magellan tundra and neighboring high Andean environments. It is well represented in protected areas with a large number of observed populations.

El proceso formativo del sistema sociocultural mapuche

A lo largo de los siglos se han propuesto diferentes teorías para tratar de dilucidar la procedencia de los mapuches, sin considerar, generalmente, la posibilidad de que este pueblo fuese oriundo del actual territorio chileno. En el presente trabajo exponemos dichas teorías para, finalmente, analizar con los actuales conocimientos científicos el proceso formativo del sistema sociocultural mapuche.

Preliminary Assessment on Seismic Vulnerability of Masonry Churches in Central Chile

ABSTRACTThe 2010 Maule Chile earthquake (Mw 8.8) caused extensive structural damage to the built heritage. In particular, the poor seismic performance of a set of unreinforced masonry (URM) churches highlighted the need to implement protective and safety strategies in order to preserve these buildings which exhibit unique constructive and typological features, as a result of a combination of Chilean and European construction cultures.The peculiarity of this heritage and the high seismic hazard of Chilean territory have motivated the present study which aims to apply systematic procedures to assess the seismic vulnerability of these buildings. This article is of archival nature and presents a complete database generated from the geometrical, constructive, and structural characteristics of a representative stock of 106 churches located in central Chile, with the goal of proposing fragility curves to be used in seismic risk assessment. Considering variables related with geometrical, architectonic, and stylistic features, as well as damage levels for the 2010 Maule earthquake, this church sample is classified into three homogenous groups: colonial, neo-classic, and neo-gothic. Moreover, a preliminary qualitative assessment of the seismic capacity of these structures is provided using a survey and analysis of geometric indices for each of the three selected groups.

El territorio de Chile en la poesía épica del siglo XVI: un imaginario sobre los desafíos de la conquista de Arauco

El artículo tiene como objetivo revisar y analizar los pasajes referentes al territorio chileno en los poemas épicos que cantaron la Guerra de Arauco en el siglo XVI. Aun cuando su argumento central consistió en los acontecimientos bélicos, algunos pasajes dieron cabida a la descripción del espacio como un paisaje épico. Así como se demostrará, su representación no solo se configuró atendiendo a las condiciones fisonómicas del territorio, sino también a los recursos literarios propios de la epopeya que caracterizaron al sur de Chile como un escenario desafiante y peligroso, espacio histórico y a la vez literario, representativo de la condición heroica e indomable del Reino de Chile.