San Pedro de Inacaliri River

San Pedro de Inacaliri River
San Pedro volcano looking south to San Pedro River
Physical characteristics
Mouth
• location	Loa River
Length	76 km (47 mi)
Basin size	9,850 km2 (3,800 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	0.2 m3/s (7.1 cu ft/s)

San Pedro de Inacaliri River, or called simply San Pedro River, is a river of Chile located in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It begins at the confluence of the rivers Silala and Cajón, at an elevation over 4,000 m asl.

A part of its flow is diverted (between 50 and 60 l/s) and conducted across the desert to Chuquicamata for domestic water supply. About 8 km south, the waters of the river disappear in a floodplain area to reappear 15 km downstream at the so-called Ojos del San Pedro in the form of a partially overground stream, at the eastern border of a salt flat with a surface of 5 km².

Loa and its afluents San Pedro, Silala and Salado Rivers

Before discharging into Loa River, the river skirts the San Pedro volcano, where it has carved a 100-m-deep canyon through a rhyolite lava flow.

References

• This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, accessed August 31, 2007.
• Niemeyer, Hans; Cereceda, Pilar (1983). Geografía de Chile — Tomo VIII: Hidrografía (1º edición, Santiago de Chile: Instituto Geográfico Militar ed.).