The Gorner Glacier () 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 ...
found on the west side of the
Monte Rosa massif
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 ...
close to
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
canton of Valais
Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
,
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 ...
. It is about long (2014) and wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier related to Gorner Glacier is (2007), which makes it the second largest glacial system in 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.
...
after the
Aletsch Glacier
The Aletsch Glacier (, ) or Great Aletsch Glacier () is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about (2014), a volume of (2011), and covers about (2011) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Valais. The A ...
system; however, in length it ranks third behind the Aletsch and
Fiescher Glaciers.
Features
Relationship to other glaciers
Numerous smaller glaciers connect with the Gorner Glacier. Its (former) tributaries are
clockwise on this map the Gorner Glacier (after which the whole system is named, although the upper part is now disconnected from the lower part), Monte Rosa Glacier,
Grenzgletscher (nowadays by far its main tributary, now disconnected from the Gorner Glacier proper), Zwillingsgletscher, Schwärzegletscher, Breithorngletscher, Triftjigletscher, and
Unterer Theodulgletscher (the last three now disconnected).
The Grenzgletscher () between the central Monte Rosa massif and the
Liskamm to the south is nowadays the main contributor to the lower Gorner Glacier. The Gorner Glacier's upper part is almost already disconnected from its lower part. The former tributaries Breithorngletscher, Triftjigletscher, and Unterer Theodulgletscher lost their connections to the Gorner Glacier during the twentieth century; the Unterer Theodulgletscher became disconnected in the 1980s.
Gornersee lake

A notable feature of this glacier is the Gornersee, an ice marginal lake at the confluence area of the Gorner Glacier and Grenzgletscher. This lake fills every year and drains in summer, usually as a
glacial lake outburst flood
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a j� ...
. This is one of only a few glacial lakes in the Alps exhibiting this behavior.
There are also notable surface features including crevasses and "table top" forms where large surface boulders have been left stranded above the glaciers surface. These tabular rocks are supported by ice that the boulder has sheltered from melting that has affected the more exposed surrounding ice.
Gornera river
The glacier is the source of the river , which flows down through
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 ...
itself. However, most of its water is captured by a water catchment station of the
Grande Dixence hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
power plant. This water then ends up in the
Lac des Dix
Lac may refer to:
Places Africa
* Lac Region, a district in Chad
* Lac Prefecture, a district in Chad
America
*Rivière du Lac, a tributary of the Montmorency River, in Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada
Europe
* Laç, a city in Albania
* Lac, ...
, the main reservoir of
Grande Dixence.
The glacier as well as the surrounding mountains can be seen from the
Gornergrat
The Gornergrat (; ) is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south-east of Zermatt in Switzerland. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway in Europe. Betwee ...
(), connected from Zermatt by the
Gornergrat Railway.
Glacial retreat
Like almost all other glaciers in the Alps, and most glaciers on the globe as well, the Gorner Glacier is retreating as a result of
global warming
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
—in this case, dramatically so. As of 2014, Gorner Glacier had been retreating about every year, but with a record loss of in 2008. Since its last major expansion (in the modern era, after the
last glacial period) in 1859, it had lost more than in distance.
As of about 2015, the Gorner Glacier had retreated to the point where it lost touch with its main tributary: the Grenzgletscher () on the south side of the Monte Rosa massif. The Gorner Glacier proper is found on the north side. Now the prominent flow visible from Gornergrat is properly called the Grenzgletscher and can no longer be considered part of the Gorner Glacier. The Monte Rosa Glacier in the middle has also lost touch with the Gorner Glacier. This can be seen in a comparison of photographs over the years:
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
Gorner Glacierglaciology.ethz.ch
swisseduc.ch
{{Authority control
Glaciers of Valais
Glaciers of the Alps