ISS Astronaut Captures Tyndall Glacier Calving Into Lago Geikie as Ice Front Rises 30-40 Meters
Updated
Updated · Science@NASA · Jun 10
ISS Astronaut Captures Tyndall Glacier Calving Into Lago Geikie as Ice Front Rises 30-40 Meters
2 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · Jun 10
Summary
May 10 imagery from the International Space Station showed Tyndall Glacier shedding ice into Chile’s Lago Geikie, with calved fragments visible at the lake-facing terminus.
Mauri Pelto estimated the glacier’s front stood 30-40 meters above the lake surface, and said heavy crevassing near the calving front is driving many smaller iceberg breakoffs.
Tyndall has lost 2.2 kilometers in length since November 2022 after roughly a decade of limited retreat, with a major calving episode in March-April 2023 accelerating the pullback.
Lago Geikie formed around 1940 as the glacier retreated, while Tyndall’s eastern outlet into Lago Tyndall was cut off by 2010 as thinning continued.
Orbital photos help scientists track remote Patagonian glaciers where field observations are scarce, and Pelto expects another burst of iceberg production in the next austral fall.