The Findel Glacier is a valley glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 in the Monte Rosa

Monte Rosa

The Monte Rosa Massif is a mountain massif located in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps. It is located between Switzerland and Italy...

 massif east of Zermatt

Zermatt

Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants....

 in the Pennine Alps

Pennine Alps

The Pennine Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland and Italy...

. It has a length of 8 km (5 mi) and covers an area of 19 km² (7.3 sq mi).

The starting point of the Findel Glacier is on the Cima di Jazzi

Cima di Jazzi

Cima di Jazzi is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the Swiss-Italian border.-External links:*...

 at 3803 m (12,477 ft) above sea level, on the border between Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. From there the glacier flows to the west between the Rimpfischhorn

Rimpfischhorn

The Rimpfischhorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps of Switzerland.The first ascent of the mountain was by Leslie Stephen and Robert Living with guides Melchior Anderegg and Johann Zumtaugwald on 9 September 1859. Their route of ascent was from Fluh Alp via the Rimpfischwänge.-External links:* *...

 and Strahlhorn

Strahlhorn

The Strahlhorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland.-Reference:* Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994...

 on the north and the Stockhorn

Stockhorn (Zermatt)

The Stockhorn is a mountain in the Pennine Alps. It is located to the Southeast of the town of Zermatt, and features several ungroomed ski runs....

 on the south. The end of glacier tongue is located at 2500 m (8,202.1 ft) above sea level.

In October 2009, a group of Swiss scientists from the University of Zurich

University of Zurich

The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....

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.

External links

• Swiss glacier monitoring network
• http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=63473&CultureCode=en
• http://www.axpo.ch/axpo/en/home/verantwortung/environment/klimainitiative/alpen-forschungsprojektunizh.html