What is the name of the largest glacier in South America?

The largest glacier in South America is Brüggen Glacier, also known as Pío XI Glacier. It lies in Chile’s Southern Patagonian Ice Field and is the ice field’s largest western outlet.

Brüggen Glacier is notable for both its size and unusual behavior. It covers roughly 1,265 square kilometres and is about 66 kilometres long, making it the longest glacier in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica. Unlike many glaciers that have steadily retreated, Brüggen advanced substantially during parts of the twentieth century.

Between 1945 and 1976, the glacier surged and pushed ice into Eyre Fjord. Its advance eventually isolated Lake Greve from the sea and added a large area of new ice. The glacier’s Spanish name, Pío XI, refers to Pope Pius XI; Brüggen Glacier honors German geologist Juan Brüggen Messtorff.

The answer can cause confusion because “largest” may mean area, length, or volume, and because the glacier has two widely used names. The competing options are all major Patagonian glaciers, but Brüggen is larger in area than Viedma, Upsala, and Perito Moreno.