The Aargletschers, literally "Aare-Glaciers", are a system of

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s located at the sources of the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descen ...

river in the

Bernese Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=BerneseAlps.jpg , photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau , country= Switzerland , subdivision1_type= Cantons , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_on= , ...

, Switzerland. In the original German the name is "Aargletscher" both in singular and plural, as in German the plural of "gletscher" is only marked by a change of the

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

: der Gletscher (one glacier), die Gletscher (many glaciers). The Aargletschers are constituted by two distinct partial glacier systems: * Unteraargletscher: composed by the converging ''Lauteraargletscher'' and ''Finsteraargletscher'', between the Lauteraarhorn,

Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and thi ...

() and

Grimselsee The Grimselsee or Lake Grimsel is an artificial lake near the Grimsel Pass in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland. With a volume of 95 mio m³ (20.9 billion imperial gallons, 20.1 billion US gallons), it is larger than other hydroelectric reservoirs i ...

(). *

Oberaargletscher The Oberaargletscher (), literally "Upper Aare-Glacier" is a long glacier (2005) situated in the Bernese Alps in the canton of Berne in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of . The lower end of this glacier lies almost 400 m higher than th ...

: between Oberaarhorn () and

Oberaarsee Oberaarsee is a hydroelectric reservoir in the Grimsel area, part of the municipality of Guttannen, Switzerland. Its surface area is . The Oberaar dam was completed in 1953, and is operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. It is drained by the Oberaarbach ...

(). Grimselsee and Oberaarsee are recent reserve lakes. The "...-Aar-Horns" are summits of more than 3600 metres above sea level, two of them even above 4000 metres.

Sources

* Swisstopo (CH 3084 Wabern): ''Landeskarte der Schweiz 1:100 000'' ** No. 37 ''Brünigpass'' ** No. 42 ''Oberwallis'' Glaciers of Switzerland Glaciers of the Alps Glaciers of the canton of Bern Aare GAar {{Bern-glacier-stub

See also

Sources