INCREDIBLE COLLAPSE TRIGGERED BY GLACIER CALVING | South America, Chile

An incredibly large chunk of the Grey Glacier’s ice-sheet breaks off and flips over in a spectacular way in Southern Patagonia, Chile. The ice-sheet of the Grey Glacier is currently declining due to increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall. It is part of the ’Southern Patagonian Ice Field’, the world’s 2nd largest contiguous extrapolar ice field and the largest freshwater reservoir in South America. The Grey Glacier is famous for insane glacier wall collapses during the summer when large icebergs – often up to 100 feet in height – are breaking off the glacier and collapsing into the water of the ’Lago Grey’. In the right time of the year big blocks of ice break off the glacier and drop into the water. The waves created by such glacier calving events often splash dozens of meters through the air. The glacier itself is about 6 km (3.7 mi) wide and has an average height of over 30 m (100 ft) above the surface of the water. Thankfully, no-one was injured as boats stay at a safe distance from the glacier (for a good reason). Glacier calving, also known as ice calving, or iceberg calving, is the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier. The sudden release and breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier or iceberg often causes large waves around the area and can result in a “shooter“ which is a large chunk of the submerged portion of the iceberg surfacing above the water. The ice that breaks away can be classified as an iceberg, but may also be a growler, bergy bit, or a crevasse wall breakaway. The entry of the ice into the water causes large, and often hazardous waves. (Find out more here: ). © Laura Q. / LS