{{Short description|Glacier in Switzerland}} {{Infobox glacier |name = Lower Grindelwald Glacier |other_name = {{langx|de|Unterer Grindelwaldgletscher}} |image = UntererGrindelwaldgletscher 01.jpg |caption = Above the glacier lake the scrawny leftovers of the former much larger Lower Grindelwald Glacier (dark, polluted part) directly below of the blue-white ''Ischmeer'' (lit.: Ice Sea) and the Fiescherhörner ({{convert|4049|m|abbr=on}} a.s.l., The Horns of Fiesch). On the very right a nameless peak ({{convert|2251|m|abbr=on}}) and the Ostegg ({{convert|2709|m|abbr=on}}, lit.: Eastern Corner), two peaks of the Hörnli, the eastern extension of the Eiger. On the left and above the glacier lake the green ''Bänisegg'' behind which the glacier's connection to its source used to be. View from ''Bäregg'' ({{convert|1772|m|abbr=on}}, lit.: Bear's Corner). This valley used to be filled with ice as thick as up to {{convert|300|m}} (picture from July 2009). |type = Alpine |location = Canton of Bern, Switzerland |coordinates = {{coord|46|34|10|N|8|3|21|E|type:glacier_region:CH-BE|display=inline,title}} |area = |length = {{convert|6.2|km|abbr=on}} |elevation_max = {{convert|3895|m|abbr=on}} |elevation_min = {{convert|1349|m|abbr=on}} |terminus = glacier lake (Weisse Lütschine<ref name=note/> (a tributary of the Schwarze Lütschine)) |thickness = |status = fast retreating |map = Switzerland#Alps |label_position = top |map_alt = |map_caption = |mapframe = yes |mapframe-zoom = 14 |mapframe-wikidata = yes }} The '''Lower Grindelwald Glacier''' ({{langx|de|Unterer Grindelwaldgletscher}}) is a Glacier in the Swiss Bernese Alps, situated to the south-east of Grindelwald. It starts below the Agassizhorn and the Strahlegghörner and is connected with the Finsteraar Glacier via the Finsteraarjoch ({{convert|3390|m|abbr=on}}). [[File:Grindelwaldgletscher.jpg|thumb|left|The top of the glacier below the Finsteraarhorn in the back and Agassizhorn to the right (August 2008)]]
The Lower Grindelwald Glacier yet has a major tributary, the '''Ischmeer''' (Swiss German for ''Ice Sea'', formerly known as ''Grindelwald-Fiescher Glacier'', {{langx|de|Grindelwald-Fieschergletscher}}), which is the glacier overlooked by the Jungfrau Railway's Eismeer railway station.
The Lower Grindelwald Glacier was about {{convert|8.3|km}} long and covered an area of {{convert|20.8|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} in 1973. The glacier has significantly shrunk since, having a length of just {{convert|6.2|km}} in 2015, with most of the retreat ({{convert|1.9|km|abbr=on}}) happening since 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://glaciology.ethz.ch/messnetz/glaciers/untgrindelwald.html?locale=en |title=Unterer Grindelwaldgletscher, Grindelwald (BE) |work=Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network |publisher=VAW Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, ETH Zürich |location=Zurich, Switzerland |accessdate=2017-06-12}}</ref>
In the middle of the 19th century it clearly reached into the valley of Grindelwald as far as ''Mettenberg'' at an altitude of {{convert|983|m|abbr=on}}, an eastern quarter of Grindelwald, near the conjunction of the Schwarze and Weisse Lütschine<ref name=note>Not to be mismatched with the Weisse Lütschine in the Valley of Lauterbrunnen.</ref> In 1900, it still reached as far as ''Rote Fluh'' ({{convert|1200|m|abbr=on}}) and filled the entire valley of its current end, the glacier lake, with a thickness of about {{convert|300|m}} up to an altitude of {{convert|1700|m}}, just below the current hiking path around the Bänisegg. Around 2000 it still reached into the gorge between the Hörnli (Eiger) and Mättenberg.
The Lower Grindelwald Glacier should not be confused with the Upper Grindelwald Glacier, situated to its north-east. The Grindelwald-Fiescher Glacier should not be confused with the like-named Fiescher Glacier, to the south of the Fiescherhorn.
[[File:Caspar Wolf Oberer und unterer Grindelwaldgletscher 1774.jpg|thumb|left|Upper (left) and Lower Grindelwald Glacier with Wetterhorn, Mättenberg, and Hörnli (north-eastern extension of the Eiger) from left to the right (1774, Caspar Wolf)]]
==See also== *List of glaciers in Switzerland *List of glaciers *Retreat of glaciers since 1850 *Swiss Alps
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://glaciology.ethz.ch/messnetz/glaciers/untgrindelwald.html?locale=en Swiss glacier monitoring network]
{{Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area}}
Category:Glaciers of the canton of Bern Category:Glaciers of the Alps Category:Grindelwald GLowerGrindelwald