Watch the Perito Moreno ice dam break in Argentina

“Slices and columns of ice would break off of the bottom of the glacier every few minutes, creating a crackling sound followed by a very loud boom and splash when they crashed into the lake. That is how massive these pieces of the gigantic glacier were that were breaking off, and they would create such a powerful surge of water that the lake looked like a raging river. On rare occasions the bottom of the glacier advances across Lago Argentino without breaking apart and touches the other side of the narrow part of the lake, splitting the lake into two separate bodies of water. When this happens the upper part of the lake rises in elevation and puts pressure on the portion of the glacier blocking the lake, eventually tunneling under the ice. Flowing water erodes the ice and gradually enlarges the tunnel under the glacier until it becomes a bridge of ice, which only takes a matter of days to collapse. This rupture had not occurred since 2012, and we just happened to be visiting on a day when we could witness the bridge of ice falling into the lake (alongside hundreds of visitors and news reporters). As every massive piece of the ice bridge fell into the lake, the crowd shrieked in amazement. I was expecting to see the bridge collapse in one massive chunk, but each time just pieces and more pieces would fall. I captured video and gifs of some very large portions of the ice falling, but unfortunately was rushed away for the trekking portion of our guided tour before the rupture’s finale.”