Southern Summer, Argentina, Chile and Y Wladfa Gymreig 15th Jan

Today is the day of the glacier! The first stage is to catch a bus from the bus station to the National Park car park.  After an hour we reach the entrance where we have then to buy our tickets. A further half hour and we get to the car park and reception. See first photo below.

After some lunch we board the shuttle bus down the hill where you can see the glacier from lake level. It is also from here you can ride the boat to get up close and personal with a calving glacier. But first we'll look at the whole thing from the car park.

Now we're down the bottom just before boarding.  See how kind the weather has been to us.

You might recognise me sitting at the gunwale of the boat. The milky colour of the water is a glacial feature caused by the suspended salts and residue scraped from the mountain side.

What calving actually means is that parts are continually falling away from the glacier snout. These can be relatively small or the size of a block of flats. When they go first you hear a noise like an explosive crack followed by a roar and huge splash. You see what looks like smoke with a tidal wave flowing away from the snout. These events take place every five to ten minutes but you would be exceptionally lucky to catch one on camera.

Besides the colouration in the water there is the colour of the ice itself. The angle that light waves are defracted through the ice depends on its density. High density, pure water, will look this bright blue that you can see below.

I was reminded of those slot machines that you used to get on piers,with piles of pennies all stacked up so nearly ready to fall as you roll yours on, but they never quite do,until.........Crash! 

Here we are looking up to see how the glacier is formed. Over the top there is Chile and the Pacific Ocean. The moist wind blows onto the coast, rises and cools over the mountains. The moisture condenses and falls as snow. The weight of snow turns to ice which then slides down the mountain. There you have it! But it's a very slow process usually taking hundreds of years. This one however is a quickie. It moves at two metres a day. A Concord among glaciers. Any further questions about glaciers please address to Thomas Duce care of Terrington St Clements Academy. Incidently the same applies to latitude!

I would like to dedicate this blog to my good friend and most assiduous commentator Carol Rodgers. Thanks for the encouragement.