Natural wonder: the melting of the Perito Moreno glacier
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- JanforGore
- added this
- added November 22, 2008
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More about this glacier.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating. Periodically the glacier advances over the L-shaped "Lago Argentino" ("Argentine Lake") forming a natural dam which separates the two halves of the lake when it reaches the opposite shore. With no escape route, the water-level on the Brazo Rico side of the lake can rise by up to 30 meters above the level of the main lake. The enormous pressure produced by this mass of waters finally breaks the ice barrier holding it back, in a spectacular rupture event. This dam/rupture cycle is not regular and it naturally recurs at any frequency between once a year to less than once a decade.
The glacier on the shore 2 weeks before the 2004 ruptureThe terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 km wide, with an average height of 60 meters above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 meters. It advances at a speed of up to 2 m per day (around 700 m per year), although it loses mass at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small variations, its terminus has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years. At its deepest part, the glacier has a depth of approximately 700 m.
The glacier first ruptured in 1917, taking with it an ancient forest of arrayán (Luma apiculata) trees. The last rupture occurred in March 2006, and previously in 2004, 1988, 1984, 1980, 1977, 1975, 1972, 1970, 1966, 1963, 1960, 1956, 1953, 1952, 1947, 1940, 1934 and 1917. It ruptures, on average, about every four to five years.
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- JanforGore
- 8 months ago
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That was awesome. I wish that I could be there to see it first hand.
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Yes, what beauty we have left to observe is awesome to behold. Climate change has dessimated so many of the world's glaciers. Seeing them now while we have them is something we should try to do. Kilimanjaro, Glacier National Park, Chacaltaya glacier in Bolivia, and others are predicted to disappear by 2015. That doesn't leave much time.
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- JanforGore
- 8 months ago
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Chacaltaya is all but gone already. It is sad and outrageous.The same is happening to the Andes, the Alps, and the Himalayas.
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- JanforGore
- 8 months ago
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Great video, Jan.
A reminder of what will someday be lost.
