Gorner Glacier

Gornergletscher

Gorner Glacier (left), central Monte Rosa massif with Monte Rosa Glacier, and the confluence with the Border Glacier (2006)
Type Valley glacier
Location Valais, Switzerland
Coordinates 45°58′11″N 7°48′6″E / 45.96972°N 7.80167°E / 45.96972; 7.80167Coordinates: 45°58′11″N 7°48′6″E / 45.96972°N 7.80167°E / 45.96972; 7.80167
Area 60 km2 (23 sq mi) (1973)[1]
Length 12.4 km (7.7 mi) (2014)[1]
Status Retreating

The Gorner Glacier (German: Gornergletscher) is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about 12.4 km (7.7 mi) long (2014) and 1 to 1.5 km (0.62 to 0.93 mi) wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier related to Gorner Glacier is 57 km2 (22 sq mi) (1999), which makes it the second largest glacial system in the Alps after the Aletsch Glacier system. Numerous smaller glaciers connect with the Gorner Glacier. Its (former) tributaries are (clockwise on this map): Gornergletscher (after which the whole system is named, but the upper part is almost disconnected from the lower part nowadays), Monte Rosa Gletscher, Grenzgletscher (nowadays by far its main tributary), Zwillingsgletscher, Schwärzegletscher, Breithorngletscher, Triftjigletscher, and Unterer Theodulgletscher (although the last three ones are actually disconnected now).

The Grenzgletscher (English: Border Glacier) between the central Monte Rosa massif and the Liskamm to the south is nowadays by far the lower Gorner Glacier's main tributary. The Gorner Glacier's upper part is almost already disconnected from its lower part. Also the former tributaries Breithorngletscher, Triftjigletscher, and Unterer Theodulgletscher left their connections to the Gorner Glacier during the last century. The Lower Theodul Glacier in the 1980ies.

Grenzgletscher (English: Border Glacier) in front with Castor and Pollux above the Zwillingsgletscher (English: Twin Glacier) in the back (as seen near from the Old Monte Rosa Hut, 2006)

An interesting feature of this glacier is the Gornersee, an ice marginal lake at the confluence area of the Gorner- and Grenzgletscher. This lake fills every year and drains in summer, usually as a Glacial lake outburst flood. This is one of few glacial lakes in the Alps exhibiting this kind of behaviour.

There are also several interesting surface features including crevasses and table top forms where large surface boulders have been left stranded above the glaciers surface. Supported by ice that the boulder has sheltered from melting that has effected the more exposed surrounding ice.

It is the source of the river Gornera which flows down through Zermatt itself. However, most of its water gets captured by a water catchment station of the Grande Dixence hydroelectric power plant. This water then ends up in the Lac des Dix, the main reservoir of Grande Dixence.

The glacier as well as the surrounding mountains can be seen from the Gornergrat (3,100 m (10,200 ft)), connected from Zermatt by a Gornergratbahn (GGB) railway line.

Retreating Glacier(s)

Like almost all other glaciers in the Alps, and most glaciers on the globe as well, due to global warming the Gorner Glacier is a retreating glacier. And in a quite dramatic way. Nowadays (2014), Gorner Glacier retreats with about 30 metres (98 ft) every year, but with a record loss of 290 metres (950 ft) in 2008. Since its last major expansion (in modern era, after last glacial period) in 1859 it lost more than 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) in distance.[2]

In these days (~2015) this becomes quite obvious since the uneducated visitor usually misidentifies Gorner Glacier's main tributary as its upper part: the Grenzgletscher (English: Border Glacier) on the south side of the central, visible Monte Rosa massif. However, the upper Gorner Glacier traditionally is to be found on the north side. The reason is that the upper part of the Gorner Glacier is currently losing contact with its lower part and now the Grenzgletscher has become its much larger tributary. So it is easy to mismatch the Border Glacier as the upper Gorner Glacier.

But this was not the case in earlier times, as the following comparison impressively shows (be also aware of the retreating of the Monte Rosa Glacier in the middle, the one in between Gorner and Border Glaciers):

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gorner Glacier.

References

  1. 1 2 "Gornergletscher, Zermatt (VS)". Swiss Glacier Monitoring, VAW/ETHZ & EKK/SCNAT. 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  2. "Glacier length variations of the year 2008". Swiss Glacier Monitoring, VAW/ETHZ & EKK/SCNAT. 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-18.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.