Perito Moreno - Lower Balcony

The path through the forest lead us to the Lower Balcony. From here, we could see the Southern wall of the famous Perito Moreno glacier. From the lowest pathway on the balcony, we could see the full glacier. The left side was the South wall of the glacier. To slight right was the part where the glacier blocks off the Lago Argentino and further right is the very impressive North wall of Perito Moreno.
There is a strip devoid of vegetation that exists between the coastal limit of the forest and the surface of the lake this is due to the floods caused by the Perito Moreno Glacier, that kill the vegetation.
The periodic advance of the glacier makes its front of ice stop against the rocky cliff, closing the "channel of the icebergs" that joins the Brazo Rico del Lago arm and the South arm of Lake Argentino with the main body of the lake.
The glacier then acts as an ice dam, containing the waters to the south, whose level rises and floods the low areas of its coasts (can lead to unevenness up to 21 m in height).
Finally, the pressure of the dammed water undermines the ice and fissures it. The ice expands until the warmer waters beneath undermine it and cause a calamitous implosion, sending tsunami-like waves on to the terminal moraine. The ice cap is broken and in an impressive spectacle the south arm is emptied.

When we were there, the glacier wall was tightly set against the rock on this side for almost 8 years so it could start breaking any time.Leggi altro