Melado River
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The Melado is a river of Linares province, Maule Region, of Chile. It is born in the "Cordillera de los Andes" with the name of river Guaiquivilo where it is formed by two tributaries, the river Cajón Troncoso, born near the Argentinian border and the river Palaleo, from the outflow of Dial lake, located some 70 km upstream from the joining of the two rivers. The Guaiquivilo flows northwardly along a typical interandean longitudinal valley.
On its left bank the Guaiquivilo is flanked by the Melado sierra, which has peaks that often surpass 2.500 mt and which constitute a natural barrier between the Guaiquivilo basin and those of the rivers Longaví, Achibueno and Ancoa, all tributary of the river Loncomilla, which, in its turn, is the main tributary of river Maule.
On its right bank, the Guaiquivilo is joined by the river San Pedro or La Puente which is born from a glacier related to the San Pedro (or Las Yeguas) volcano. From this point onwards, the river takes the name of Melado.
The river Melado is damed to generate hydroelectric power in the Pehuenche Hydro Central.
The Melado joins the river Maule when the latter has already flowed for 75 km.
