Breathtaking images capture the harsh beauty of Perito Moreno Glacier ... at 250ft high and the size of 35,000 football pitches

·        Perito Moreno Glacier can be found in Los Glaciares National Park, which is Unesco World Heritage-listed

·        Visitors can trek on the surface of the epic glacier which ruptures every four to five years

·        The glacier, which covers 97 square miles and is 19 miles long, is 48 miles from the city of El Calafate 

Beautiful and brutal in equal parts is the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia's Unesco World Heritage-listed Los Glaciares National Park.

The stunning expanse of ice on Lake Argentina covers about 97 square miles, the equivalent of 35,000 football pitches, but is constantly growing and ruptures every year.

The 19 mile-long glacier is just 48 miles from the lakeside city of El Calafate and is becoming an increasingly popular tourist attraction, with day trips offered by a number of tour companies.

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The Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina covers the equivalent of 35,000 football pitches

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The sharp edge of the 97 square mile glacier on Lake Argentina, which is constantly growing 

The reason behind the glacier's growth is not known but as it advances into the lake it dams a section and causes the water level to rise.

Water builds up pressure and eventually ruptures causing large chunks of ice to break from the glacier and water to pour from the dammed section to the main body of the lake. This natural phenomenon occurs as often as once a year.

But in between the spectacular ruptures large chunks of ice breaks off from the vast growing mass.

These incredible photographs were taken by Polish photographer Jakub Polomski. As well as capturing its sheer magnitude, he also saw a large chunk of ice falling from the glacier and splashing into Lake Argentina. 

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A large chunk of ice from the edge of the Perito Moreno Glacier falls into the water and makes a wave

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The Perito Moreno Glacier can be found in Patagonia's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Los Glaciares National Park

Jakub said: 'I was there for the second time in my life, and I was lucky with the weather. It was changing rapidly. The sun was coming out and it was getting warmer quickly.

'I had a feeling that some big part would fall into the water - and it happened. I was there only for about an hour and a really huge piece fell.'

Guided treks can be taken on the ice itself ranging from one to five hours - or if going on the glacier is too ominous, visitors can negotiate a walking circuit from the visitor centre to see the spectacular southern and eastern edges.

The sheer scale of the natural marvel is imposing with the ice rising almost 250 feet above the surface of the water.

The glacier is currently in the midst of a relatively stable period with the most recent of its ruptures taking place in January last year - it busts open, on average, every four or five years but sometimes the gap can be as little as two years.

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While its terrain appears brutal, hiking tours between one and five hours-long are available on the ice

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The dense mass of ice in Patagonia rises more than 70m from the surface of the water

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The glacier ruptures on average every four to five years, with its last major event happening in January 2013