Argentina tourism. Bridge of ice in Perito Moreno glacier. Patagonia tours Argentina

Here in Los Glaciares Park, a huge ice tongue up to 700 meters high is slipping from the mountains. This is the great Perito Moreno, named after the explorer of this area Francisco Moreno. This jumble of huge blue ice floes lies on the border of the Argentine province of Santa Cruz and Chile. The fantastic natural monument of the Argentine part of Patagonia is only one of 48 glaciers fed by the southern part of the glacier located in the Andes.

If you're lucky, in Perito Moreno you can see the huge icy dam of Lake Argentino breaking through, on the opposite bank of which ice floes accumulate. This happens from once a year to once every ten years. Los Glaciares National Park, which contains a unique glacier, in 1981 was included in the UNESCO register of protected natural sites. There are bridges opposite the glacier, from where you can admire the glacier from different angles. Plus, boat trips are organized from Calafate or directly here, from the piers located right on the territory of the National Park.

The glacier as a whole is unusually bright and sparkling, and in places of fresh cracks the color of the ice amazes with its unreal blue. The fascinating glaciers of Patagonia will not leave indifferent even the most avid traveler. Thousands of tourists with cameras gather here to film how icebergs break off from the glacier with a roar. These majestic glaciers survived from the time of the ice age, when they stretched far beyond their present borders and cut deep gorges during the movement.

The speed of the glacier is about 2 meters per day. That is, every day from somewhere out of the fog, two meters of fresh ice creeps. It is hard to imagine, but the glacier is really populated: numerous birds live here. Actually, the glacier itself can rightfully be called a living creature: its blocks crack, breathe, break away, and condensed water creates a fog near Perito Moreno, sometimes more like rain.

Glaciers are natural formations that are a collection of ice of atmospheric origin. On the surface of our planet, glaciers occupy more than 16 million square meters. km, that is, about 11% of the total land area, and their total volume reaches 30 million cubic kilometers. More than 99% of the total area of the Earth's glaciers belongs to the polar regions. However, glaciers can be seen even near the equator, but they are located on the tops of high mountains. For example, the highest peak of Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro - is crowned with a glacier, which is located not lower than 4500 m.

Glaciers are formed on the Earth's surface, provided that the amount of solid precipitation over the years has exceeded the amount of precipitation that can melt or evaporate. The line above which the snow that fell during the year does not have time to melt is called the snow line. The height of its location depends on the climatic features of the area. In the mountains located near the equator, the snow line is at an altitude of 4.5-5 thousand meters, and to the poles it drops to ocean level. Above the snow line from the accumulating and condensing snow glaciers are formed.

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