science

La Portada

La Portada is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand La Portada rather than just read about it. In short: La Portada (Spanish: "The Gateway") is a natural arch on the coast of Chile, 18 km (11 mi) north of Antofagasta. It is one of fifteen natural monuments included among the protected areas of Chile.

Key takeaways

La Portada belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect La Portada to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of La Portada from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

La Portada (Spanish: "The Gateway") is a natural arch on the coast of Chile, 18 km (11 mi) north of Antofagasta. It is one of fifteen natural monuments included among the protected areas of Chile. There is another similar but smaller structure in the spa town of Pucatrihue, Osorno Province.

Description

The La Portada Natural Monument covers an area of 31.27 hectares (77.27 acres), and its geomorphological features and remaining fossils stand out in the form of an arch. The arch of La Portada is 43 m (140 ft) high, 23 m (75 ft) wide, and 70 m (230 ft) long. It has a base of black andesite stone, around which are arranged marine sedimentary rocks, a stratum of yellowing sandstone, and layers of the remaining fossils of shells dating back 35 to 2 million years ago. All this was formed during a long process of marine erosion. The arch is surrounded by coastal cliffs that were also formed by marine erosion. They reach a maximum height of 52 m above sea level. On 5 October 1990, it was declared a natural monument under Supreme Decree #51 of the Ministry of Agriculture, published in the Diario Oficial. Between 2003 and 2008, the monument was closed due to a landslide of an important part of its cliffs, which required remodeling of the access route and its surroundings. Since 2010, access to the beach is prohibited to protect the flora and fauna.

Fauna The natural monument constitutes an observation site for guano birds such as Peruvian booby (Sula variegata) and Inca terns (Larosterna inca), as well as Guanay cormorants (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii), kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus), grey gulls (Larus modestus), Belcher's gulls (Larus belcheri), and pelicans. Occasionally one can also observe mammals such as the South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) or the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis).

Access La Portada is located 18 km (11 mi) north of Antofagasta, which can be accessed by Route 1 Antofagasta-Tocopilla, from which an access road diverges at kilometer 20. The monument is found near the Cerro Moreno International Airport and La Chimba National Reserve.

References

External links

(in Spanish) Corporación Nacional Forestal. (in Spanish) Servicio Nacional de Turismo. La Portada.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with La Portada

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what La Portada claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to La Portada before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about La Portada ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of La Portada

In research: La Portada appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses La Portada in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: La Portada is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Coasts of Antofagasta Region, IUCN Category III, Landforms of Antofagasta Region, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for La Portada outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study La Portada in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what La Portada means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain La Portada out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is La Portada in simple terms?

La Portada (Spanish: "The Gateway") is a natural arch on the coast of Chile, 18 km (11 mi) north of Antofagasta. It is one of fifteen natural monuments included among the protected areas of Chile.

Why does La Portada matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study La Portada?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on La Portada.