The Amalia Glacier is a tidewater glacier originating in the Southern Patagonian ice fields. Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and glaciers are common in the mountain ranges on every continent. As tidewater glaciers flow into the sea, pieces of them break off and fall into the ocean and form icebergs. The action of the ice falling into the water is known as calving, and the sound of it is called white thunder.

The Amalia glacier is located north of the central area of the Southern Ice Fields and is approximately half a mile wide and 100 feet high, with its ice mass mainly supplied by intense snowstorms throughout the entire year. It’s one of 48 glaciers which make up this part of the ice fields. It descends from the Andes Muntains and sits towering above the sea. Because of its immense weight, the oxygen has been pressed out of the ice, giving it a beautiful crystalline appearance. It is approximately 73 square miles in area.