The Bossons Glacier is one of the larger
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s of the
Mont Blanc massif of the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
, found in the
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...
valley of
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'', south-eastern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It is fed from icefields lying on the northern side of
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...
, and descends close to the
Aiguille du Midi
The Aiguille du Midi (, "Needle at midday") is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc.
Ca ...
and ends on the southern side of the
Arve
The Arve () is a river in France ('' département'' of Haute-Savoie), and Switzerland (canton of Geneva). A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long, of which 9 km in Switzerland. Its catchment area is , of which 80 km2 in Switzerlan ...
valley, close to the town of Chamonix.
It has the largest altitudinal drop of all the alpine glaciers in Europe, and formerly extended much further down the valley than it does today.
It is now approximately 7.5 km long, with a surface area of approximately 10 km
2.
In the 17th century the Bossons glacier extended right down into Chamonix, reaching the settlement of Le Fouly, engulfing farmland, barns and houses. Local bishops were called upon to exorcise the demons within the glacier. In 1777 the traveller and correspondent,
William Coxe, observed in his letters that ''"we mounted by the side of the glacier of Bosson, to les Murailles de Glace, so called from their resemblance to walls: they form the large ranges of ice of prodigious thickness and solidity, rising abruptly and parallel to each other. Some of these ranges appeared about a hundred feet high. Near them were pyramids and cone of ice of all forms and sizes, shooting to a very considerable height, in the most beautiful and fantastic shapes."'' He then noted that, on his return in 1785, ''"these murailles de glace no longer existed"''.
By around 1784 the glacier had started to retreat, although there was a renewed surge around 1815 and the frightened community erected a cross in front of its snout, which served as a marker for glacial retreat for the next 100 years.
In 1900 the
snout
A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...
of the glacier was still reaching down into the valley bottom at an altitude of 1,050 metres above sea level.
By 1980 the snout only reached down to about 1,200 metres, and by 2008 it had melted backwards even further backwards, ended at around 1,400 metres, albeit still well below the treeline. A series of paintings from the early 19th century and modern day photographs reveal the extent of the glacier's recession as the climate has warmed, as well as revealing evidence of glacial
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...
s showing its past extent down to the valley bottom.
Mt Hamel catastrophe
On the 20th of August 1820, an avalanche killed three Chamonix guides of the expedition of Dr Joseph Hamel, a Russian naturalist. The guides were lost after they were swept into a crevasse following the party's 1,200-foot fall in an avalanche.
In August 1861 two of the bodies were discovered at the terminus of the glacier. Two of the surviving guides from the expedition were still alive, and one, 72 year-old Joseph-Marie Couttet, positively identified the remains.
See also
*
List of glaciers
A glacier ( ) or () is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Glaciers slowly defor ...
References
External links
Bossons Glacier on French IGN mapping portalSatellite view of Bossons glacier on Bing maps
{{Authority control
Glaciers of Metropolitan France
Landforms of Haute-Savoie
Glaciers of the Alps
Landforms of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes