Jonas Baud

It feels like being in another world. The panorama is so beautiful as to be almost unreal: the mighty Monte Rosa massif with the highest point in Switzerland, the Dufourspitze (4634 m), towering above us and the majestic Matterhorn on the right. We are surrounded by a white landscape: the perpetual ice of the Gorner glacier, studded with scree and rubble. Every step on this ground must be checked; moving around here is not without its dangers. A crevasse opens up suddenly, or a puddle of water. Being in this ice desert is a fascinating feeling, even in the middle of summer with perfect conditions.

The everyday life of glacier research

“ETH Life” was given an opportunity to accompany ETH glacier researcher Andreas Bauder and his scientific colleague Jens Eller for a day on the glacier to observe their research activities. We set off together in Zurich in the direction of Zermatt. There we changed to the Gornergrat rack railway, which took us slowly but steadily upwards to an altitude of 1500 metres into the magnificent world of the Alps. Our destination was Rotenboden station; from there we hiked down to the glacier.

The Gorner glacier is about 14 kilometres long, and with all its tributary glaciers it covers an area of 68 square kilometres. Thus it is the second largest coherent glacier surface in Switzerland after the Aletsch glacier.

A flow of data from the glacier to Zurich

ETH operates an extensive measurement array on the glacier. The measurements include the movement of the ice. Andreas Bauder says: “In the area being studied, this glacier moves about 20 metres per year”. This is recorded using about 40 measuring stakes stuck into the ice. A laser theodolite outside the glacier measures angles and distances at hourly intervals, enabling it to find out the present position of the stations. A central computer records the data. “I can access this and view it at any time. It is transmitted to ETH automatically once a day.” He says this makes the work much easier.

Each autumn the stakes are drilled into the ice to a depth of six to eight metres. Since the ice thickness decreases greatly in summer because of the thaw, they need to be checked regularly. This was exactly the task of the ETH research team led by Andreas Bauder and which I was able to accompany on this tour. Only a few stations needed to be re-drilled to prevent the stakes melting out prematurely; otherwise only small adjustments were necessary, and as a result we moved forward relatively quickly.

Bauder also enjoys being able to do research in the open country in the course of his work: “Glaciology fascinates me because ice is a pure material and experiments can be performed on the structure itself.”

Ablation, i.e. the melting of the ice, has increased greatly on the Swiss glaciers in recent years because of climate warming. In general the mass and length of the glaciers is decreasing more or less rapidly. However, Andreas Bauder still sees no reason for an alarmist response: “Since the Gorner glacier is up to 400 metres thick, it will remain with us for a long time to come”.

Research on the Gorner glacier: ETH glaciologist Andreas Bauder (left) with scientific colleague Jens Eller (right) assessing the measurement data. large

The meltwater route

The researchers’ aim on this glacier is to study the drainage of the Gornersee Lake(1), which is formed by the meltwater each early summer. The lake forms at the confluence of the Gorner and Grenz glaciers. The lake empties during the warm season of the year. “There are various scenarios as to how this happens. When a certain water level has been reached, the ice starts to melt and the water flows away under the glacier. However, this year the lake flowed through a channel that gouged ever deeper into the surface, with the result that the four to five million cubic metres of water were drained away slowly into what is called a glacier moulin,” explains Andreas Bauder.

This year the Gornersee Lake meltwater flows away through this glacier channel. large

The water pressure is measured at various points to monitor the drainage of the water through the glacier. In addition, geophones and seismometers belonging to the ETH Institute for Geophysics measure the tremors inside the glacier.

This research tour gave the observer an exciting and instructive insight into glaciologists’ field work. The working day ended in the early evening, because the steep and strenuous ascent to the overnight accommodation was still ahead of us: the Monte Rosa Hut at a height of 2795 metres. The excursion made quite large demands on a rather out-of-training climber from the Mittelland plain, but the effort was worthwhile: this day on the glacier was an impressive experience.