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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 200m - and in some places is more than 400 metres thick. The Mer de Glace extends over a difference in height of 2500m, between the altitudes of 3900m and 1400m. |
 Sea of Ice |
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Glaciers are living phenomena which move constantly. The Mer de Glace glacier is also a place where scientific experiments are carried out, and numerous studies (the first ones date from 1870) are still carried out here, but it is the magic of the place which makes the Mer de Glace one of the most visited natural sites in the world. 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. |