Glacier Minutes

Here is another snapshot of South America. This one is of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina. This glacier, which is 30 km long, is part of the South Patagonia Icefield, the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. I spent a whole day at the glacier, first approaching it by boat. The wall rises up to 60 metres high, but there are another 170 metres of ice below the surface of the lake. Pieces are regularly falling from it. Even being right there it was difficult to get a good idea of the scale and the pieces which fell only looked like small chunks until they hit the water and made a great crashing sound. The glacier terminates in a very narrow part of the lake so it is possible to climb the bank opposite and get an excellent view of the glacier from above. From here, without the sound of the boat's engine, it was possible to listen to the glacier cracking and creaking as it moved slowly into the lake. It sounded like there was a war going on. This is one of the few glaciers which is not retreating and sometimes it advances to the opposite shore and damns the whole lake.