Middle part The glacier heads south-east at the foot of the Gross Wannenhorn in to the east 3, meters and the Dreieckhorn to the west 3, meters. This connection is becoming thinner as a result of the retreat so that the two glaciers should be separated in the future. Lower part The last part of the glacier is covered with lateral and medial moraines. The tongue reaches an altitude of 1, meters, well below the tree line. The Massa flows from the glacier and then descends into gorges where its waters are captured and held in the dam Gebidem to power a power plant.
The river then joins the Rhone. The Aletsch glacier is thick in its upper part but as it progresses in the valley, the ice thickness decreases appreciably to reach only meters in the final part. Moraines The characteristic moraines of the Aletsch Glacier, two parallel bands, are dark and are almost in the middle of the glacier. They follow the course of ice from Konkordiaplatz to the end of the ice tongue. Home Europe Switzerland.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Stretching over 23 kilometres, the Aletsch Glacier in canton Valais is the longest in Europe, measuring 1. From its source in the Jungfrau mountain region at over 4, metres, the glacier flows down the valley at speeds of up to m a year. But in recent times it has also been beating a major retreat. Up here at 2, metres, you cannot hear the steady drip of melting ice down below.
But over the years the cumulative effect has been devastating. This year the conservation centre, which pulls in around 17, visitors a year, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a no-holds barred exhibition looking at how the local environment has changed. Albrecht, who grew up in the region and has worked at the centre for 30 years, has witnessed this first hand. The Aletsch Glacier belongs to this region. And things may get much worse over the coming decades. If it continues to melt at this current rate, by the end of this century the surface of the Aletsch Glacier could shrivel from square kilometres to 35km2, leaving a volume of ice of 1.
The idea of the Aletsch Glacier disappearing is like Zermatt without the Matterhorn. As the glacier retreats, small landslides have been observed in the valley where two geological plates meet.
The moving landscape has been a challenge for developers. The Moosfluh cable car, which opened in December , was built with an innovative design that takes into account rock movements of 11 metres horizontal to the northwest and nine metres vertical in the next 25 years. There are questions, also, whether the Aletsch Glacier will melt into a series of small mountain lakes , as predicted by Swiss researchers in This comes with potential risks of flooding and landslides, particularly for communities directly below the new lakes.
Over the next years Switzerland could face a three-degree Celsius temperature increase due to climate change. Researchers believe that alpine plants could face not only warmer temperatures, but also deadly competition from unfamiliar species. While not directly linked to climate change, other changes to the local fauna have been observed. When the Pro Natura conservation centre opened in , deer were a rare sight. Forty years on, around live in the hectare Aletsch protected forest in summer, but have become a problem.
Solid shoes help too. Allow at least an hour to enjoy the view, but more to fully enjoy this beautiful place. If you take your time, count on half a day for the entire excursion from the valley in Betten and back. The Bettmerhorn gondola station is located at an altitude of m. Anyone can suffer from light altitude sickness from about m. Usually it helps to take things slow and sit down for a while.
Special precautions apply to children under 2 years old, as well as people who are pregnant or in poor health: before visiting areas over m, you'd better consult your doctor. In most cases though, staying at such altitudes for just a few hours is no problem.
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MySwissAlps features commercial and non-commercial links. The Bettmerhorn. Panoramic view of the Aletsch Glacier. The Bettmerhorn The gondola to the Bettmerhorn allows you to enjoy a first class view of the largest glacier in the Alps. What exactly is the Bettmerhorn?
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