Grey Glacier

Not to be confused with Gray Glacier.
Grey Glacier

Grey Glacier
Type Mountain glacier
Location Chile
Coordinates 50°57′S 73°15′W / 50.950°S 73.250°W / -50.950; -73.250
Area 270 km2 (100 sq mi) [1]
Length 28 km (17 mi) [1]
Terminus Glacial lake

Grey Glacier is a glacier in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, just west of the Cordillera del Paine. It flows southward into the lake of the same name. Before dividing in two front at its end, the glacier is 6 kilometers wide and over 30 meters high. In 1996 it occupied a total area of 270 km2 (100 sq mi) and a length of 28 km (17 mi). [2]

Surroundings

Recent retreat.
Grey Glacier seen from space.

The Glacier is in the south end of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field. The surface of the lake can be seen when following the big circuit of Paine Mountain Range at John Garner Pass. There is another view of the glacier from the south shore of the lake where the glacier can be seen in the background, with fragments of ice floating close to the shore. It is located to the west side of the Torres del Paine National Park.

View from the west side
Icebergs calved by the glacier.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grey Glacier.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.