Aletsch Glacier

Geschichte

The Aletsch Glacier or Great Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about 23km, has about a volume of 15.4km3, and covers about 81.7km2 in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. The Aletsch Glacier is composed of four smaller glaciers converging at Concordia Place, where its thickness was measured by the ETH to be still near 1km. It then continues towards the Rhône valley before giving birth to the Massa. The Aletsch Glacier is – like most glaciers on this world – a retreating glacier. As of 2016, since 1980 it lost of its length, since 1870, and lost also more than of its thickness.The whole area, including other glaciers is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.GeographyThe Aletsch Glacier is one of the many glaciers located between the cantons of Bern and Valais on the Bernese Alps located east of the Gemmi Pass. The whole area is considered to be the largest glaciated area in western Eurasia. The Fiescher and Aar Glaciers lying on the east have similar extensions.