INCREDIBLE COLLAPSE TRIGGERED BY GLACIER CALVING | South America, Chile
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Published 2022-11-10
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: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_calving).
© Laura Q. / LS
All Comments (21)
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Love the last bit where you discover how deep this actually goes when the lower portion comes to the surface.
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I find it so neat how blue that ice is. The part underwater was soo much bigger than I expected.
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I was STUNNED when out of the depths came this gorgeous dark blue ice from the chunk (an equally beautiful light blue!) broke off of the glacier! AMAZING NATURE!
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I could freaking kiss the one recording this for not "narrating" or screaming in this. Thank you!
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That was incredible. I especially loved how the ice was progressively more blue the deeper it was, and the more pressure it was under.
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That dark blue from the ice being compressed over who knows how long is amazing. That deep blue is beautiful.
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The sheer scale of the ice and the range of deep blue colours as it turns over makes it both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
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About 15 years ago I spent $145 on a guided walk on Grey Glacier, including crampons , ropes and harnesses. We were taken by a small boat to the glacier, on the far side where the ice met the rock, thought probably much further to the left given the retreat of the glacier face since then. Then we walked for probably a couple of hours, roped together before returning by boat. The blue of the ice where water channels cut into it was a blue I've never seen before or since. Probably the best $145 I ever spent.
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I'm always amazed at how incredibly blue the ice is. Whenever I see glaciers and icebergs in animations or in photos, I always find myself doubting it, but then I see it in person or on a clearly unedited video and it amazes me.
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I am absolutely obsessed with the colors of the glacier ice. It's one of the most beautiful blue colors that I've seen.
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Can we just appreciate how beautifully blue the ice is?
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That deep blue ice at the bottom is an otherworldly color. So beautiful.
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It blows my mind just how huge a mass of ice that truly is, seeing the full depth of it come to the surface is unreal. Thank you for capturing this and sharing.
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Wow! I knew that a glacier was far deeper underwater than it was tall, but this really puts those proportions into perspective. Incredible footage!
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I was canoeing in Glacier Bay, Alaska in 1979 and the sound of calving (over a mile away) is much like thunder - you can hear the sound here, albeit muted by the high wind. Awesome video thank you.
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This footage is pure gold, I mean this massive movement in water, we normally can only simulate on PC and see simulation, but to see this on real footage - wow. Almost feels like unbelievable what i'm seeing, the moment when all that ice comes to surface and every part of water above flows down the ice. 🤯
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I was not expecting those hilly looking waves, or that dark blue piece to pop up. That was amazing! Great filming...and just the sound of the wind; perfect.
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Thank you to whoever recorded this and allowed the event to simply unfold with no narration.
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the colors 🥲, Chile have amazing landscapes
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Keep in mind - just the bit rising above the water is about 30 meters tall, or about the size of an 8 story building. You really lose a sense of proportion from this vantage point - but these things are absolutely massive. You're essentially seeing a 200 meter skyscraper rolling over. I was there in 2017 for my honeymoon, my wife and I ate a mouthwatering Argentinian "asado" at a restaurant (Hotel Lago Grey) at the end of this lake, to the left. At the bar, we got a piece of ice from the glacier in our whisky. Truly something.
