PERITO MORENO GLACIER
The vast Los Glaciares National Park stretches 200
kms north to south along the eastern edge of the southern continental icesheet
in Argentina's Santa Cruz province.
The showpiece of this pristine wilderness is the
Perito Moreno glacier, which is actually three glaciers feeding into one.
Day and night it cracks and crunches its way into Lake Argentina, periodically
damming up the lake until tremendous pressure ruptures the dam. Getting
too close can be fatal. When 20-storey ice slabs calve into the lake
treacherous tidal waves sweep the shoreline and ice shrapnel fills the air.
Photographs © Walt Clayton III
All Rights Reserved
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW
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200-foot high glacier front
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Calving into Lake Argentina
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Calving
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Submerged iceberg frees from bottom and rises
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Calving in ice arch
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Inside glacier's leading edge
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Dangerous calving wave slams shoreline
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Ice slab breaks away
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Ice splashes into lake
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Iceberg sculpted by wind and water
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