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| Glacier de Saleina | |
|---|---|
| Name | Glacier de Saleina |
| Location | Canton of Valais, Canton of Geneva, Haute-Savoie, Mont Blanc Massif |
| Length | approx. 12 km (historical) |
Glacier de Saleina is an alpine glacier located on the northern flank of the Mont Blanc Massif in the Alps of western Europe, descending from the Aiguille d'Argentière and the Aiguille de Triolet toward the Val Ferret and the settlement of Saleina near Vallorcine and La Neuveville. The glacier forms part of a complex of ice flows that include the Glacier du Tour and the Glacier d'Argentière, and it drains toward the Arve basin and the transboundary valleys that link France and Switzerland.
The glacier occupies a cirque below peaks such as the Aiguille Verte, Les Droites, Les Courtes, and Aiguille du Chardonnet, lying close to international borders between France and Switzerland and the departments of Haute-Savoie and the cantons of Valais and Vaud. Its upper névé fields abut the Col des Cristaux and the Col de Triolet, while the lower tongue formerly reached the floor of the Val Ferret near Champex-Lac and the hamlet of Saleina. Major watercourses fed by its melt include tributaries of the Arve and ultimately the Rhône River, linking the glacier to hydrographic systems that pass through Geneva and the Lac Léman basin.
Glaciological studies of the glacier reference mass balance measurements comparable to those on the Mer de Glace, Ghiacciaio del Ciardoney, and other Alpine glacier systems monitored by institutions like the Glaciological Commission of the Swiss Academy of Sciences, the World Glacier Monitoring Service, the European Alps research networks, and the Centre d'études de la neige (CEN). Surface features include crevasses, seracs, medial moraines, and icefalls analogous to formations on the Glacier des Bossons and Glacier d'Argentière, while basal sliding and firn metamorphism have been documented in field campaigns coordinated with teams from the University of Lausanne, the ETH Zurich, and the Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble I). Longitudinal profiles indicate thinning trends observed alongside measurements on the Glacier d'Otemma and Morteratsch Glacier, and ice-core sites near the accumulation zone have been compared with records from the Col du Dôme and the Aletsch Glacier.
The glacier figured in early mountaineering narratives that involve guides and alpinists from Chamonix, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, Martigny, and Saas-Fee, with expedition routes developed in parallel to approaches on the Arête des Cosmiques and the Haute Route. Notable 19th-century figures linked to exploration in the surrounding massif include Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Edward Whymper, Jacques Balmat, and Michel-Gabriel Paccard, while 20th-century scientific efforts saw contributions from Emile Vallot, Jean-Marc Peillex, Paul-Louis Mercanton, and research groups based at the Laboratoire d'hydraulique in Grenoble. The glacier's moraines preserve traces of Little Ice Age advances contemporaneous with expansions recorded at Mer de Glace and the Gorner Glacier, shaping regional toponymy and alpine route development used by local guide companies such as the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix.
Access to the glacier is typically via approach trails from Vallorcine, La Fouly, the Val Ferret trailheads, or via high mountain huts including the Refuge d'Argentière, Cabane du Trient, and Refuge de Saleina, which serve climbers on mixed routes toward summits like the Aiguille d'Argentière and Mont Dolent. Routes employ techniques comparable to glacier travel on the Tour Glacier and ridge climbing on the Biancograt, and guide services from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and Martigny organize ascents and ski-mountaineering traverses paralleling itineraries used on the Haute Route and the Grands Mulets. Rescue operations in the area involve coordination with PGHM, Rega, and regional mountain rescue services from Haute-Savoie and the cantons of Valais.
Like many Alpine glacier systems including the Aletsch Glacier, Rhône Glacier, and Pasterze Glacier, the glacier has exhibited retreat, negative mass balance, and reduced thickness in response to rising regional temperatures documented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the European Environment Agency, and national monitoring by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Météo-France, and the MeteoSwiss network. Impacts on seasonal runoff affect downstream hydrology in the Rhône watershed and hydroelectric infrastructure managed by companies such as Alpiq and Centralschweiz Kraftwerke AG, while studies by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) frame consequences for water resources, geomorphological hazards, and tourism economies in communes like Argentière and Les Houches. Local adaptation strategies have been compared to interventions at the Roseg Glacier and protective measures trialed on the Morteratsch and Pitztal Glacier.
The glacier's forefields and adjoining alpine meadows host species and habitats comparable to those recorded in the Ecrins National Park, Vanoise National Park, and the Gran Paradiso National Park, with colonizing plants such as Dryas octopetala (local vernacular names), Saxifraga oppositifolia, and lichens studied by botanists from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris), the University of Geneva, and the University of Bern. Faunal observations include presence and transit of species protected under the Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive analogues: Alpine ibex, Chamois, Marmota marmota (alpine marmot), Lagopus muta (rock ptarmigan), and passerines noted in surveys by the Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève and wildlife monitoring programs from the Swiss Ornithological Institute. Successional dynamics in moraine ecosystems mirror research from the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Dolomites regarding recolonization after ice retreat.
Category:Glaciers of the Alps Category:Glaciers of Switzerland Category:Glaciers of France