The Géant Glacier (french: Glacier du Géant) is a large

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 a ...

on the French side of the

Mont Blanc massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...

in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

. It is the main supplier of ice (via the Vallée Blanche) to the

Mer de Glace The Mer de Glace ("Sea of Ice") is a valley glacier located on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif, in the French Alps. It is 7.5 km long and deep but, when all its tributary glaciers are taken into account, it can be regarded as ...

which flows down towards Montenvers. It gets its name from the nearby

Dent du Géant The Dent du Géant ( It.: Dente del Gigante, "giant's tooth") (4,013 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in France and Italy. The Dent du Géant remained unclimbed during the golden age of alpinism, and was a much-coveted peak in the 1870 ...

Access

It is possible to take the Vallée Blanche Cable Car which travels right over the Géant Glacier, from the

Aiguille du Midi The Aiguille du Midi () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc. Cable car The idea fo ...

in France, to

Pointe Helbronner Pointe Helbronner () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Graian Alps on the watershed between France and Italy. The peak, which used to be a mere geodetic reference point, was named after Paul Helbronner, a French '' polytechnicien'', ...

on the Italian/French border. Experienced skiers also have an "outstanding attraction" in the challenging run from the Aiguille du Midi telepherique station, down the Vallée Blanche and onto the Géant Glacier then, avoiding the Seracs du Géant, merging onto the Mer du Glace to reach the resort of Montenvers

Early studies

In 1862, the physicist and mountaineer

John Tyndall John Tyndall Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of ...

gave a series of lectures to the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

in which he reported on his studies into heat as a form of motion. By placing lines of stakes upon the ice, he made numerous measurements of ice flow from the Géant Glacier and surrounding glaciers into the Mer de Glace. He subsequently published further accounts in his 'Glaciers of the Alps. Tyndall_1896_Figure_7-37-MJ2

References

External links

Geant Glacier on French IGN mapping portal
Glaciers of Metropolitan France Glaciers of the Alps {{France-glacier-stub

Access

Early studies

Further reading

References

External links