page_title: Chilean Central Valley
section_title: Central section (33°00'–41°30' S)
hierarchical_section_title: Chilean Central Valley / Central section (33°00'–41°30' S)
caption_attribution_description: English: Biobío Region, Chile
context_page_description: The Central Valley, Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in southern Chile, with a notable interruption at Norte Chico. South of Puerto Montt the valley has a continuation as a series of marine basins up to the isthmus of Ofqui. Some of Chile's most populous cities lie within the valley including Santiago, Temuco, Rancagua, Talca and Chillán.
context_section_description: The main portion the Central Valley extends from Tiltil (33°05' S) near Santiago to Temuco (38°45' S). The Coast Range and the Andes almost merge in two locations: one between Santiago and Rancagua and another between San Fernando and Rengo. The result is the enclosure of the Central Valley into two smaller basins in the north: Santiago Basin and Rancagua Basin.
  The valley runs an un-interrupted length of 360 km from Angostura de Pelequén in the north to Bío Bío River (37°40' S) in the south. It broadens from 12 km at Molina (35°05' S) in the north to 74 km in the south at Laja (37°15' S) the relief being gently undulating. Conglomerate of Andean provenance cover large swathes of the Central Valley being less common to the west near the Coast Range. Occasionally the valley contains isolated hills and mountains made up of basement rocks. At the latitudes of Temuco the Coast Range is subdued to such degree the Central Valley coalesces with the coastal plains.
  In the 110 km between Gorbea and Paillaco (c. 39–40° S) the Central Valley is inexistent as the region is instead crossed by a series of east-west mountainous ridges and broad fluvial valleys. South of this region the Central Valley re-appears in the south to extend into Osorno and Puerto Montt (41°30' S). This southern section is 190 km long from north to south. The Central Valley south of Bío Bío River has been influenced by volcanism and past glaciations giving origin to the ñadis and moraines that cover parts of the valley.
  The natural vegetation of the central section vary from north to south. To a lesser degree vegetation also vary towards the foothills of the Andes and the Chilean Coastal Range. From Santiago to Linares thorny woodlands of Acacia caven are dominant. In Ñuble Region two sclerophyll vegetation types cover the territory. These are the associations of Lithrea caustica–Peumus boldus and  Quillaja saponiana–Fabiana imbricata. From Bío Bío River to the south Nothofagus obliqua becomes the dominant tree species. Only Llanquihue Lake and the Puerto Montt area are exceptions to this being respectively dominated by Nothofagus dombeyi–Eucryphia cordifolia and Nothofagus nitida–Podocarpus nubigena.
caption: Topographic map showing the Chilean Central Valley from 35°50' to 38°30' S.
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