Mountain glaciers,seen from the International Space Station (ISS). North is at left. The Bruggen Glacier,southern Chile,is the pale blue river of ice at centre right. Other glaciers are at centre left. Snow-capped mountains (across top,part of the Andes) are over 3000 metres high. The glaciers flow down to coastal land (brown,bottom). The Bruggen Glacier,the largest western flow out of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field,advanced from 1945 to 1976,and blocked Eyre Fjord (blue sea at bottom right),creating Lake Greve (grey,centre). The area is around 60 kilometres across. The ISS orbits around 380 kilometres above the Earth. Photographed on 25 September 2001 |