The last rupture of the Perito Moreno Glacier was in March 2018, just over two years old.
A few months before we had made the journey from Calafate to the glacier first and since the beginning of Los Glaciares National Park we had trekked for 6 hours above the Perito Moreno. A wonderful experience.
| Trekking in the Perito Moreno Glacier an unforgettable unique sensation. |
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A few months later we went back to the area before the news of an impending glacier rupture.
This time we would be simple but privileged spectators of one of the most attractive and beautiful natural spectacles on the planet.
In reality the break is not instantaneous and immediate. The glacier begins its breaking process and from that moment on, what is called the Glacier Closure occurs.
The Glaciarium Center located on the southern shore of Lake Argentino, which constantly monitors the evolution of the Perito Moreno, announces the different phases of the rupture in order to be prepared for the spectacular final rupture.
The different phases in the breakdown of the glacier.
First the glacier is "closing" preventing the passage of water through the fissures and channels that we had mentioned in the previous article.
The pressure of the water creates a tunnel inside the glacier that is eroded by the passage of the water, causing huge blocks of ice to fall inside the tunnel.
Until the last huge block of ice falls causing a thunderous fall from all the other side blocks of the ice vault that has formed giving it the characteristic tunnel shape.
This fall causes a great foam in the Argentine Lake and a noise that is heard several kilometers away in the middle of the Patagonian forest.
The breakup process had started in August 2017 shortly after we finished our hike. And the final break occurred on March 11, 2018, that is, 7 months later.
This allows you to stay informed throughout the phase and wait for the final moment. As we did. And we show it to you and we count step by step.
After several hours of waiting ......
The final break step by step.
The first thing you see is the imposing, gigantic mass of ice seen behind the tunnel, at this point quite small in relation to the dimensions of the glacier.
The water begins to flow violently from the inside of the tunnel outward, putting enormous pressure on the glacier walls.
The pressure of the water and the jet of foam that comes out from inside the glacier is increasing.
The roof of the glacier vault begins to peel off, huge blocks of ice falling into the water with a deafening noise.
The tunnel entrance has already been practically obstructed by the falling ice blocks.
A huge mouth opens at the entrance to the tunnel.
The water without any kind of containment begins to flow to the outside with violence.
The side walls of the tunnel become weaker and weaker.
And they end up falling with a roar in the waters of the lake in a cloud of foam
It is a deafening noise like that of thunder in the distance but of insufficient violence.
A few minutes later and there is no trace of the glacier block.
The water continues to run freely towards the lake. Until the glacier starts to "close" again and the process will start once more. As it has for thousands of years.
| From Calafate to the Perito Moreno Glacier, a dream tour. | |
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| From the top of Fitz Roy watching wonderful spectacle. | |
| Excursion from Calafate to El Chaltén, 10 hour walk between forests and mountains. |