The glacier looks black because of all the rock it gathers.

Frozen to the marrow, wet through - and loving it.

The toe of the glacier - the bluer the ice, the more recent its calving.

More on Glacier Lake

November 23, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌫 8 °C

As was the case in so many places we visited, the local guides here pointed out how things are changing. This lake has only existed since 1990. The wall at the bottom end of the lake is the moraine, where the glacier once ended. The moraine is the debris that is pushed along by the glacier.

The toe of the glacier is now at the top end of the lake, some seven kilometres away.

Ice dropping off a glacier is referred to as calving. A large calving event coincided with the Christchurch earthquake in 2011. So much ice dropped from the terminal face, it caused tsunami waves of 3.5 metres.

Opinion is that the glacier will continue to recede…Read more