Swiss glaciers 1850–2100

Stotzig Egg

IceIce lost since 1850This glacier

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. This glacier has no model run of its own; its future follows the typical path of glaciers its size.

Inventory 0.305km² Area in 2016 · ±0% compared with 2016
Area 20160.30km²357th largest
Elevation2,684–3,210mmedian 2,879 m
Length1.3kmfaces north-west
1850 ice body1.6km²now 2 glaciers
Thinning 2010–2021−8maverage surface lowering

Stotzig Egg is one of 1,400 glaciers in Switzerland, covering 0.30 km² in the canton of Obwalden. Its ice spans 2,684 to 3,210 m and faces north-west. Its meltwater drains to the Rhine and on to the North Sea. In 1850 it was part of a larger ice body of 1.6 km², which has since split into 2 glaciers covering 0.6 km² in 2016 (−61%). Between 2010 and 2021 its surface dropped by 8 m on average. No glacier model run exists for it; on the map it follows the typical path of glaciers its size.

Measured

The record

Thinning since 2010

Average change in surface height, from comparing elevation models made from maps, aerial images and laser scans.

−10 m−8 m−6 m−4 m−2 m0 m201020152020−8 m
GLAMOS Swiss Glacier Volume Change, release 2025.
Profile

Facts

Area over time

18501.559 km²19311.093 km²19731.006 km²20160.305 km²2050 · SSP2-4.50.000 km²2100 · SSP2-4.50.000 km²

Past areas are the ice body this glacier belonged to at the time. Projections: OGGM median, SSP2-4.5.

SGI id
A51h-34
Canton
Obwalden
River
Rhine → North Sea
Basin
Reuss
Location
46.7768° N, 8.4306° E · swisstopo map
Elevation
2,684–3,210 m, median 2,879 m
Slope, aspect
26°, north-west
Debris cover
none mapped
Inventory image
2016
In 1850 joined with
Galtiberggletscher N
Sources

Sources

  1. Linsbauer et al. (2021). The new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2016. Frontiers in Earth Science 9. doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.704189
  2. 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
  3. GLAMOS – Glacier Monitoring Switzerland. www.glamos.ch

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.

← Larger: Obere Breithorngletscher (Lauterbrunnen)Smaller: Unnerbächgletscher W →