Perito Moreno Glacier

We stayed in El Calafate for a rest day so that we could visit the Perito Moreno glacier which I must admit, I had never heard of prior to this trip - so firstly, some of the facts...

The Glacier is located in the Los Glaciers Nacional Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentine Patagonia.

The 250 km2 (97 sq mi) ice formation, and 30 km (19 mi) in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This icefield is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.



The view of the Glacier from the top viewing deck. From the face to the mountain slopes behind is approximately 14 km.

What makes it particularly interesting to visit is that the Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating.



The face of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometres (3 mi) wide, with an average height of 60 m (197 ft) above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 metres (558 ft). It advances at a speed of up to 2 metres (6.56 ft) per day (around 700 metres (2,297 ft) 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 metres (2,297 ft).

Large piece of ice collapses as the glacier advances. The view of the glacier is accompanied by loud creaking sounds as the glacier advances right before your eyes. Then there is silence and then suddenly a loud crash as a tower block size piece of ice shears off the face and crashes into the water. As the resulting iceberg(s) pop to the surface a huge wave radiates out into Lago Argentina perhaps 20 ft high before it dissapates its energy across the lake which is almost 600 ft deep at the face of the glacier... spectacular!




It is also possible to hike on the Glacier and sure it would have been rude not to...




The Perito Moreno glacier, located 78 kilometres (48 mi) from El Calafate, was named after the explorer Francisco Moreno, a pioneer who studied the region in the 19th century and played a major role in defending the territory of Argentina in the conflict surrounding the international border dispute with Chile.