Glacier de l'A Neuve S
Past extents come from the Swiss Glacier Inventories of 1850, 1931, 1973 and 2016. Future extents are illustrative: each glacier’s projected area (OGGM, median of CMIP6 climate models) is removed from its lowest ice upward. About the scenarios.
Glacier de l'A Neuve S is the 86th-largest glacier in Switzerland, covering 1.94 km² in the canton of Valais. Its ice spans 2,067 to 3,804 m and faces north-east. Its meltwater drains to the Rhône and on to the Mediterranean. In 1850, at the end of the Little Ice Age, it covered 2.97 km²; by 2016 it had lost 35% of that area. Its tongue has been measured 13 times since 1888. In total it has retreated 74 m, about 2.4 m a year. Between 1982 and 2023 its surface dropped by 26 m on average. With strong climate protection (SSP1-2.6), about 42% of its 2020 ice would remain in 2100. With very high emissions (SSP5-8.5) it would be gone around 2092. Its meltwater peaked around 2005.
In pictures
What remains in 2100
Meltwater
Million m³ of water per year, 11-year mean
The record
Length change since 1888
Position of the glacier tongue, measured in the field almost every year. Hover for each measurement.
Thinning since 1982
Average change in surface height, from comparing elevation models made from maps, aerial images and laser scans.
Facts
Area over time
Past areas are the ice body this glacier belonged to at the time. Projections: OGGM median, SSP2-4.5.
- SGI id
- B85-07
- Canton
- Valais
- River
- Rhône → Mediterranean
- Basin
- Dranse
- Location
- 45.9350° N, 7.0530° E · swisstopo map
- Elevation
- 2,067–3,804 m, median 2,767 m
- Slope, aspect
- 31°, north-east
- Debris cover
- 0.20 km² (10% of the area)
- Inventory image
- 2016
- Ice volume (model)
- ≈ 0.046 km³ in 2020 (OGGM)
- RGI ids
- RGI60-11.02884
More in the Dranse basin
- Glacier de Corbassière14.95 km²
- Glacier d'Otemma zentral12.59 km²
- Glacier du Brenay7.07 km²
- Glacier de Saleinaz6.69 km²
- Glacier du Mont Durand6.21 km²
- Glacier du Giétro5.11 km²
- Glacier de la Tsessette zentral2.06 km²
- Glacier de Valsorey2.03 km²
- Glacier de Boveire1.66 km²
- Glacier du Tseudet1.54 km²
- Glacier d'Orny1.31 km²
- Glacier de l'A Neuve N1.27 km²
Sources
- Linsbauer et al. (2021). The new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2016. Frontiers in Earth Science 9. doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.704189
- Mannerfelt et al. (2022). Halving of Swiss glacier volume since 1931 observed from terrestrial image photogrammetry. The Cryosphere 16. doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3249-2022
- GLAMOS – Glacier Monitoring Switzerland. www.glamos.ch
- Zekollari et al. (2024). Twenty-first century global glacier evolution under CMIP6 scenarios and the role of glacier-specific observations. The Cryosphere 18 (OGGM v1.6 projections). tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/5045/2024/
Relief: swisstopo swissALTIRegio. 1850 and 1973 outlines: Maisch et al. (2000), Müller et al. (1976), Paul (2004). Length, mass balance and volume change: GLAMOS releases 2025. All sources and methods.