Glaciar Perito Moreno

by Martin Mergili

The Perito Moreno Glacier is an eastern outlet glacier of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The glacier tongue ends up in the Lago Argentino. Thereby it periodically cuts off a lateral branch of the lake, the Brazo Rico. This leads to a rise of the water level of the Brazo Rico and to increased hydrostatic pressure on the glacier terminus, so that the ice-dammed lake drains periodically (this happened approx. two weeks after the title images were taken). Except for these cyclic fluctuations, the Perito Moreno Glacier itself represents one of few stationary glaciers worldwide - no significant retreat has been obsereved over the last years and decades.

The glacier itself is very hard to access. However, the slope directly opposite to the glacier terminus is developed through a system of viewing terraces. This site can be reached by a paved road and offers an excellent overview of the lower part of the glacier.

Click on the photo to change between different panoramas of the terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier.

3D view of the Perito Moreno Glacier

This 3D view helps you to observe the landscape from various perspectives. Use the left mouse key to rotate, the mouse wheel to zoom, and the right mouse key to drag the scene.

Perito Moreno Glacier with Lago Argentino in the north and Brazo Rico - cut off from the main body of the lake through the glacier tongue - in the southeast.

This scene was generated with the QGIS plugin Qgis2threejs and uses the following libraries: three.js http://threejs.org/ (LICENSE) and Proj4js http://trac.osgeo.org/proj4js/ (LICENSE). Background: Bing Aerial.

Change of the glacier front in the period 2006-2018

4 December 2006

Click on the arrows or into the photograph to travel in time and to come closer to present. So you can see how the glacier front has evolved between 2006 and 2018.

Even though some retreat of the glacier front can be observed, it is minor in comparison to many other glaciers and could reflect short-term fluctuations rather than a long-term trend.

The living front of the Perito Moreno Glacier

Click on the arrow to start the 100-fold accelerated video. Which changes do you note at the glacier front, and what will happen next?

Show solution

Videos: Peter Mathis and Martin Mergili

Lenzano, M.G., Lannutti, E., Toth, C.K., Lenzano, L.E. & Lovecchio, A. (2014): Assessment of ice-dam collapse by time-lapse photos at the Perito Moreno glacier, Argentina. The International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences 40(1): 211 [Access source]

Stuefer, M., Rott, H. & Skvarca, P. (2007): Glaciar Perito Moreno, Patagonia: climate sensitivities and glacier characteristics preceding the 2003/04 and 2005/06 damming events. Journal of Glaciology 53(180): 3-16 [Access source]

Skvarca, P. & Naruse, R. (1997): Dynamic behavior of Glaciar Perito Moreno, southern Patagonia. Annals of Glaciology 24: 268-271 [Access source]