Pastoruri Glacier EarthCache
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Pastoruri Glacier
The Pastoruri glacier is a cirque glacier, located in the southern
part of the Cordillera Blanca, in Northern Peru in the Andes. It is
one of the few glaciers left in the tropical areas of South
America.
The glacier is around 8 square kilometres (3 square miles) in size,
and around 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) long with a terrestrial snout
ending. The glacier is currently retreating quickly. It has lost
22% of its size and 15.5% of its ice mass in the last 30-35
years.
The glacier occupies a Andean peak around 5,250 metres (17,200
feet) above sea level, and so has steep, cliff like edges, with
heavily crevassed areas characteristic of a cirque glacier.
Cirque Glacier
A cirque glacier is formed in a cirque, bowl-shaped depressions on
the side of mountains. Snow and ice accumulation in corries often
occurs as the result of avalanching from higher surrounding slopes.
In these depressions, snow persists through summer months, and
becomes glacier ice. Snow may be situated on the leeward slope of a
mountain, where it is sheltered from wind. Rock fall from above
slopes also plays an important role in sheltering the snow and ice
from sunlight. Randklufts may form beneath corrie glaciers as open
space between the ice and the bedrock, where meltwater can play a
role in deposition of the rock.
Huascarán National Park
Huascarán National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Huascarán) is a
national park in the Cordillera Blanca, a range of the Andes, in
Ancash of central Peru. It was also pronounced as Natural Heritage
of Humanity and recognized as Reserve of Biosphere Core. The
highest mountain in Peru is located in the park (also named
Huascarán, reaching 6,768 meters high). This park is the habitat of
the Puya raimondi, the Cougar, the Jaguar, the Llama, the Guanaco,
the Marsh Deer, the Peruvian Tapir, the Peruvian Piedtail, a
hummingbird species, and many kinds of ducks including the Southern
Pochard.
Huascarán National Park is home to mountains ranging from 2000 to
over 6000 m in height. Huascarán, the mountain from which the park
takes its name, is the highest in Peru at 6768 m, and rises above
nearby peaks such as Alpamayo and Pisco. The park's 3,000
km2 contain 663 glaciers, 296 lakes and 41 tributaries
of three important rivers: the Santa, Pativilca and Maranón.
To log this earthcache, send email with
answers to the following questions and post a photo from the
Location (Headerkoords). Photos of yourself and your GPS are
Optional-not a must.
1. What is the altitude at the base and the top of the glacier?
(Watch for signs on the road to the top)
2. How many activities are prohibited on the glacier? (Watch the
waypoint)
3. In what year was the Huascarán National Park arranged?
Additional Hints
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