Tasman Lake is a

proglacial lake In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around t ...

formed by the recent retreat of the

Tasman Glacier Tasman Glacier (officially Haupapa / Tasman Glacier) is the largest glacier in New Zealand, and one of several large glaciers which flow south and east towards the Mackenzie Basin from the Southern Alps in New Zealand's South Island. Geography ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. In the early 1970s, there were several small meltwater ponds on the Tasman Glacier. By 1990, these ponds had merged into Tasman Lake. Tasman Lake has quickened the retreat of the Tasman Glacier. Initially it did so by undercutting the cliff at the end of the glacier, causing parts of the cliff to fall into the lake. Since 2006, however, a apron of submerged glacial ice projects out from the cliff, and icebergs periodically break off the apron and float away down the lake. Because more of the glacier is now in contact with the water, its rate of retreat has increased. By 2008 the lake was about long, wide and deep, having almost doubled in area since 2000. It is expected to grow to a maximum length of about within the next one or two decades. Tasman Lake, the glacier and the surrounding mountains are part of

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park is a national park located in the Canterbury Region in the central-west of the South Island of New Zealand. It was established in October 1953 and takes its name from the highest mountain in New Zealand, Aora ...

. Taking a boat tour among the icebergs on the Tasman Lake is now a popular tourist activity. For safety reasons the small inflatable boats are not allowed closer than to the tall terminal face of Tasman Glacier. Tasman Lake can be reached by road from the nearby

Mount Cook Village Mount Cook Village, officially Aoraki / Mount Cook, is located within New Zealand's Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park at the end of , only south of the summit of the country's highest mountain, also called Aoraki / Mount Cook, in the Souther ...

and a short walk from the car park at the end of the road. Like many other geographic places in both

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, it is named after Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman.

References

External links

New Zealand Department of Conservation
- Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park {{Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park Lakes of the Canterbury Region Proglacial lakes Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park

See also

References

External links