Chile
The diverse climate of Chile ranges from the world's driest desert in the north—the Atacama Desert—through a Mediterranean climate in the center, humid subtropical in Easter Island, to an oceanic climate, including alpine tundra and glaciers in the east and south. According to the Köppen system, Chile within its borders hosts at least ten major climatic subtypes. There are four seasons in most of the country: summer (December to February), autumn (March to May), winter (June to August), and spring (September to November).
The flora and fauna of Chile are characterized by a high degree of endemism, due to its particular geography. In continental Chile, the Atacama Desert in the north and the Andes mountains to the east are barriers that have led to the isolation of flora and fauna. Add to that the enormous length of Chile (over ) and this results in a wide range of climates and environments that can be divided into three general zones: the desert provinces of the north, central Chile, and the humid regions of the south.
Volcanology of Chile
Volcanology of Chile studies a continuous volcanic process that has a strong influence on Chilean landscape, geology, economy and society. Volcanism constantly renews the Chilean landscape with lava flows, lava plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes, and maars. However volcanism in Chile as well as in other parts of the world is also associated with several natural hazards such as lahars, earthquakes, pyroclastic flows, toxic gases and ash. Continental Chile has a high concentration of active volcanoes due to its location along the Peru–Chile Trench, a subduction zone where the Nazca and Antarctic Plates are driven beneath the South American Plate. Chile has been subject to volcanism since at least late Paleozoic when subduction along the western margin of South America began. Easter Island, Juan Fernández Islands and other oceanic islands of Chile are extinct volcanoes created by hotspots. Chile has about 500 volcanoes considered active, 60 of which have had recorded eruptions in the last 450 years. The volcanoes with most recorded eruptions are: