The deep cracking sound bursting from within the ice signals the dramatic fall about to happen. Seconds later, a block of ice some 70 meters (230 ft) tall - the size of
The deep cracking sound bursting from within the ice signals the dramatic fall about to happen. Seconds later, a block of ice some 70 meters (230 ft) tall - the size of a 20-story building - collapses from the face of the Perito Moreno glacier into the aquamarine water below.
The sight has attracted visitors to Argentina's most famous glacier for years. Standing on platforms facing the ice, they wait for the next crack to split the cool Patagonian air.
But recently the size of the ice chunks breaking off - a process called "calving" - has been starting to alarm local guides and glaciologists, already anxious at a prolonged retreat by Perito Moreno, which had bucked the trend in recent decades by maintaining its mass even as warmer climates spurred faster glacial melting worldwide.
"Ice calving events of this size haven't been very common at the Perito Moreno glacier over the past 20 years," said Pablo Quinteros, an official tourist guide at Los Glaciares National Park in the southern province of Santa Cruz.
"It's only in the last four to six years that we've started to see icebergs this big," he told Reuters during a visit in April.
The face
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
