Skip to comments.
Argentina glacier loses giant wall of ice
mlive ^
| 3/15/2004
| AP
Posted on 03/15/2004 9:31:59 PM PST by Lokibob
Argentina glacier loses giant wall of ice
The Associated Press
3/15/2004, 11:11 p.m. ET
PERITO MORENO GLACIER, Argentina (AP) — Giant blocks of ice sheered off a wall of Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier, collapsing with a roar into a Patagonian lake — a spectacle not seen in 16 years.
Giant chunks of blue and white ice fell for several days before the thunderous crash on Sunday. Tourists applauded as the 220-foot-high wall of ice crashed down.
The 3,000-year-old glacier known as the "White Giant" is one of Argentina's leading tourist attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It spans a swath of southern Patagonia, ending abruptly in a translucent blue wall of ice overlooking Lago Argentino, Spanish for the Argentine Lake.
The glacier forms a natural ice dam spanning part of the lake. But water pressure had been building in recent weeks, forcing a large section of ice to collapse.
Park officials say the last time such a large collapse was witnessed was in 1986.
Perito Moreno is the main attraction in Argentina's National Glaciers Park near El Calafate, some 2,000 miles southwest of Buenos Aires.
Located near the southernmost tip of South America, some 63 Patagonian glaciers — some blinding white and others a deep blue — cover a remote region totaling 6,600 square miles or river lakes and fjords. Each year, thousands of tourists visit the glaciers.
TOPICS: Science; Travel; Weather; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: climatechange; glacier; southamerica
I just watched the video on 10 pm news. Was spectacular. Tourists were pretty close, I'm amazed nobody hurt.
1
posted on
03/15/2004 9:31:59 PM PST
by
Lokibob
To: blam
ping
2
posted on
03/15/2004 9:32:57 PM PST
by
Lokibob
(All typos and spelling errors are mine and copyrighted!!!!)
To: Lokibob
Sure must have been something to see. WOW.
3
posted on
03/15/2004 9:41:29 PM PST
by
Soaring Feather
(~ I do poetry and party among the stars ~)
To: Kathy in Alaska
ping
4
posted on
03/15/2004 9:42:07 PM PST
by
Soaring Feather
(~ I do poetry and party among the stars ~)
To: Lokibob
Al Gore did it. :-)
5
posted on
03/15/2004 9:46:50 PM PST
by
quantim
(Victory must be absolute, it cannot be relative.)
To: Lokibob
Giant blocks of ice sheered off a wall of Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier, collapsing with a roar into a Patagonian lake — a spectacle not seen in 16 years. The news report I saw made it sound like this had never happened before and that the glacier was now destroyed.
Must be global warming -- just like 16 years ago.
6
posted on
03/15/2004 9:49:28 PM PST
by
AZLiberty
(Capitalism presumes we possess a traditional endowment of morals -- F. A. Hayek)
To: AZLiberty
From waht I saw, a river of water was coming out from under the glacier (like a tunnel) and all of a sudden a good portion of the tunnel fell away.
Tourists were right up on the edge.
I'll try to find the video tomorrow and post it here.
7
posted on
03/15/2004 9:53:11 PM PST
by
Lokibob
(All typos and spelling errors are mine and copyrighted!!!!)
To: Lokibob
No tsunami?
8
posted on
03/16/2004 1:45:55 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
Little one going up that river.
I say again, I am amazed nobody go hurt when the ice fell. I'll bet the cave roof that the river was coming out of was 200 feet high.
9
posted on
03/16/2004 2:38:34 PM PST
by
Lokibob
(All typos and spelling errors are mine and copyrighted!!!!)
To: Lokibob
"I say again, I am amazed nobody go hurt when the ice fell." I'll 2nd that.
10
posted on
03/16/2004 4:08:06 PM PST
by
blam
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson