Buenos Aires Landscapes

Perito Moreno Glacier on the Peninsula of Magallanes

On the very next days the Perito Moreno Glacier will rupture, a phenomenon that has been happening each time sooner due to the global warming and for the first time, since 1917, will happen during the winter.

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the many glaciers existing on the South of Argentina. One year ago, in June 2007, we had the chance to travel to the small city of El Calafate, the nearest city to this glacier, and we could take this pictures. Unfortunately, no photograph can be compared to the impact of seeing it live, and be impressed by the beauty, the huge dimensions and the dinamic, unique and live nature.

Perito Moreno Glacier borns at the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, a huge extension of continental ice formed on the South of the Andes mountain range, on the border of Argentina and Chile. It has 25 km lenght since its origin,from where it advances slowly to the East and reaches the Canal de los Témpanos (Icebergs Channel) of Lago Argentino (Argentine Lake). There the glacier stretches out over the Brazo Sur (Southern Arm) with 5 km width and 60 meters high. It is inside a protection area called Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Glaciers National Park), among other 300 glaciers. 

The Perito Moreno Glacier has a speed of displacement up to 2 meters a day. When it reaches the Península de Magallanes, it forms a natural dam of the Brazo Rico  waters from Lago Argentino and with the ice melting, the water level can rise by up to 30 meters. This way, the glacier’s walls are pressured and a tunnel for the water escape is formed, allowing the water to be drained to the other side of this ice barrier. Due to the water erosion, the tunnel opening is increased until the superior arch ruptures, creating a spectacle that happens from time to time.

Due to its advance and compression movement, the glacier generally allows to its visitors the possibility of seeing several “small” ruptures in all its extension, during all the year, leaving the lake in its front, full of icebergs of pure water. The Lago Argentino, in its totality, is formed by melted glacier waters and its color is blue turquoise.

Perito Moreno and Peninsula of Magallanes seen from Canal de los Témpanos

Perito Moreno’s “ice tongues” seen from Canal de los Témpanos

Video showing a “small” rupture of the Perito Moreno Glacier.

Where?
Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, 78 km from El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina

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sepphora | July 8, 2008 | 3:39 pm | Outside Buenos Aires