Vinciguerra Glacier, Mountain glacier in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Vinciguerra Glacier is a mountain glacier in the Cordón Vinciguerra near Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Two ice slopes converge into a south-facing tongue between 800 and 740 m above sea level, with a 15% gradient. Its meltwater collects in the Laguna de los Témpanos at 725 m, a lake that did not exist before 1970.
Named after Italian ichthyologist Decio Vinciguerra, a member of Giacomo Bove's 1881 Italo-Argentine expedition to Tierra del Fuego, the glacier covered 1.15 km² in 1970 and 0.63 km² by 2008. Its retreat averaged 11.5 m per year from 1970 to 2002, then 19.5 m per year between 2002 and 2008. In 2009 it was listed with its surrounding peat bogs as a Ramsar site, the southernmost in the world.
The glacier's name honours Decio Vinciguerra, an ichthyologist on the 1881 Italo-Argentine expedition to Tierra del Fuego led by Giacomo Bove. Since 2009 the glacier and its surrounding peat bogs form the world's southernmost Ramsar wetland site, which acts as a buffer zone between Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego National Park.
Access is via a challenging hiking trail from Ushuaia that involves significant elevation gain and forest crossing. Visitors should bring sturdy footwear, weatherproof clothing, and water, as conditions change rapidly in this mountain environment.
The meltwater collects in Laguna de los Témpanos at 725 m, a lake that did not exist before 1970 because the glacier covered the whole area. It is the southernmost Ramsar site in the world, designated in 2009 together with its surrounding peat bogs.
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