Photos

La Mer de Glace (Ice Sea)

With a surface area of 40 km2 and a length of 7 km, this is France’s largest glacier.
Its width varies from 700 to 1950 metres and the thickness of the ice is on average 200 metres, and sometimes exceeds 400 metres. The Mer de Glace extends over a difference in level of 2500 metres, between the altitudes of 3900 m and 1400 m.

Three glaciers join together to make up the terminal spur of the Mer de Glace. The Leschaux glacier, of which Les Grandes Jorasses mark the summit, the Le Tacul glacier, which links the Vallée Blanche and the Le Géant glacier, and finally the Le Talèfre glacier.

Until 1820, the Mer de Glace could be seen from Chamonix. However, each year it retreats little by little and only one part can now be seen. The immense moraines at the edge of the glacier are evidence of this movement.