this article examines the work of hans steffen as geographer of the government of chile between 1892 and 1902 in the litigation against argentina for the delimitation of patagonia. this conflict confronted two scientific criteria to address the political boundaries: the division of water, or "divortium aquarum" defended by chile and the notion of the highest peaks of the range, or "main chain", supported by argentina. here we analyze how steffen prepared the chilean position, from his explorations and studies, and for the court of arbitration in london, where both views were defended.
