MELTING GLACIERS. 30 Dec 1931. Several snowfields completely disappeared during the summer; crevasses appeared in the glaciers where none, had been noted, for years
MELTING GLACIERS (1931, December 30). Lithgow Mercury (NSW : 1898 – 1954), p. 4 (TOWN EDITION). Retrieved December 24, 2019, fromhttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/221855994?searchTerm=melting%20glaciers&searchLimits=#
EXPERTS MEASURE MOVEMENT
The report on the movements of Swiss glaciers in 1929 has been published.
The yearly measurement of Alpine glaciers was begun in 1881 by Professor F. A. Florel, and continued after 1897 by M. Ernest Muret and Professor Maurice Lugeon.
Since 1914 the surveys have been made by Professor P. L. Mercanton.
From October, 1928, to September, 1929, snowfalls in the Alps were under the average, and the heat and drought during the summer months resulted in an abnormal melting of glaciers and snowfields (writes a Swiss correspondent of the London Times).
The limit of permanent snowfields in the Alps has been higher than the year before.
Several snowfields completely disappeared during the summer; crevasses appeared in the glaciers where none, had been noted, for years, and this was not only the consequence
of insufficient snowfalls, but also of the persistence of warm and dry weather, which caused the melting of the snows and glaciers to continue until the late autumn, an event not recorded
for the past 25 years.
Of the 102 glaciers observed in 1929, 79 were retreating, as against 77 the year before, 12 were stationary, compared with five in 1928, and 11 were advancing.
Among the new glaciers which showed progression, the Lower Grindelwald glacier advanced by 21ft, the Lenta glacier by 45ft, the Kehlefirn glacier by 51ft, and the Damma glacier by 75ft. Among the few which showed retrogression, the Gorner glacier retreated by 7ft, the Rhone
glacier by 15ft, the Aletseh, Arolla and Morterasch glaciers by 33ft, the Fee glacier by 57ft, the Findelel glacier by 72ft, the Scex Rouge glacier by 81ft, the Grand Desert glacier by 81ft, and the Tiatscha glacier by 180ft.
The movement of retreat which began eight years ago is continuing and tending to become general, and the comparatively small snowfalls of 1930 will accelerate that movement during
the present year, unless they be offset by the late melting of the snows and the cold weather of July.