The Findel Glacier (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
: ''Findelgletscher'') is a valley
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 ...
in the
Monte Rosa
Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...
massif east of
Zermatt
Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...
in the
Pennine Alps
The Pennine Alps (, , , ), sometimes referred to as the Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont) an ...
. It has a length of and covers an area of .
Factsheet Findelgletscher
''GLAMOS''
The starting point of the Findel Glacier is on the Cima di Jazzi at above sea level, on the border between Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. From there the glacier flows to the west between the Rimpfischhorn
The Rimpfischhorn (4,199 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps of Switzerland. Along its north ridge lies the prominent sub-peak ''Grosser Gendarm'' (4107 m).
The first ascent of the mountain was by Leslie Stephen and Robert Living with guides ...
and Strahlhorn
The Strahlhorn (4,190 m) is a mountain of the Swiss Pennine Alps, located south of Saas-Fee and east of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. It lies on the range that separates the Mattertal from the Saastal and is located approximately halfway bet ...
on the north and the Stockhorn
The Stockhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the region of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland. It is located north of the town of Erlenbach im Simmental.
The Stockhorn is high and is accessible via cable car from Erlenbach. It ...
on the south. The end of glacier tongue is located at above sea level.
In October 2009, a group of Swiss scientists from the University of Zurich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
carried out an experiment to measure the length of the glacier, comparing their results with a previous experiment in 2005. Their results showed that the glacier had lost 49 million cubic metres of ice, and has lost a quarter of its surface area since 1850.
See also
*List of glaciers in Switzerland
This is a non-exhaustive list of the major glaciers in Switzerland. It contains their surface area, their lengths since the start of measurement and the most current year, their height and their outflow. Most of them are retreating and many wil ...
*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 ...
*Retreat of glaciers since 1850
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 is a well-documented effects of climate change, effect of climate change. The retreat of Mountain glacier, mountain glaciers provides evidence for the Instrumental temperature record, rise in global temperatures ...
*Swiss Alps
The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...
References
External links
Swiss glacier monitoring networkSwiss Scientists measure glacial melting with light
Interactive repeat photo comparisons of the Findel Glacier
Glaciers of Valais
Glaciers of the Alps
{{Valais-glacier-stub