Lisa's Travel Photos

Latin America

Patagonia #27

Perito Moreno Glacier

The big tourist attraction of Argentina's Los Glaciares National Park is the Perito Moreno Glacier, with large numbers of package tours taking people to see it (from where? I don't really know - it seems to be in the middle of nowhere). It's a particularly interesting glacier because it advances pretty rapidly, with blocks frequently falling off, and it periodically blocks a lake behind it, which rises until the water pressure explosively breaks the blockage, sending huge chunks of ice careening into the downstream lake that the glacier feeds (that happens once every few years). This photo was taken from the clump of viewing platforms for the tourists; you aren't allowed to get closer to it (except by boat tour) because of the dangers of ice blocks falling off of it. The light and dark patterns on it in this photo are caused by local cloud patterns.