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GLACIER "TOUR"
Risk type: glacier flood (contain both lakes and water pocket)

Glacier list | Statistics
 

Type:  Cirque glacier
Country:  France
Region:  Haute Savoie
Massif/Ice Cap:  Mont Blanc
Municipality:  
Municipality code:  
Location:  This glacier is placed under the Aiguille of the Tour, and it looks directly on the valley of Chamonix, at the same level as the village of the Tour
 
Latitude (°, cent):  45.979
Longitude (°, cent):  6.949
Surface (km2):  8.5
Lenght (km):  4.7
Width (km):  2.4
Min. altitude (m):  1800
Max. altitude (m):  3700
Orientation (°)  
Slope (°)  22

EVENT:  Date  14/8/1949 -  Date quality:   

Type:  Ice avalanches
Description  a big part of the terminal tongue of the glacier came unhooked. The volume of moving ice has been estimated between 0,5 and 2 millions m3. A volume of 1 million m3 seems to be reasonable
Effects:  although the fall hadn’t led to material damage, it led the death of 6 persons who were picnicking below
Deaths(#)  6
Injuried (#)  0
Note  The global quality of the information is good, because this tragic event has been related several times

DAMAGES    

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Glaister,R.M., 1951 - The ice slide on the glacier du Tour Journal of glaciology, 1, (9), p.508-509
Guichonnet, P., 1950 - La catastrophe du glacier du Tour Revue de géographie alpine, XXXVIII(1), p.198-201
Lliboutry, L., 1971 - Les catastrophes glaciaires La Recherche, 2, (12), p.417-425
Lliboutry, L. et al., 1965 - Traité de glaciologie Tome II. Masson, p.622
Mougin, M.P, 1922 - Avalanches, débâcles et érosions glaciaires Etudes glaciologiques, tome V, Imprimerie nationale, Paris, p.169
Tufnell, L., 1984 - Glacier Hazards London and New York. Longman, 97p.
Vivian, R., 1975 - Les glaciers des Alpes occidentales Thèse d'état, Imprimerie Allier, Grenoble, p.348-349

EVENT:  Date  20/7/1910 -  Date quality:   

Type:  Glacier flood (contain both lakes and water pocket)
Description  two similar small events took place (3:15pm and 5:24pm). In each case, a loud noise has been heard, followed by plenty of ice blocks and by a flood of muddy water, for about 7 min each
Effects:  no damages have been observed
Deaths(#)  0
Injuried (#)  0
Note  the global quality of the information is good ; there are a lot of details, but nothing concerning volumes. Volumes have been estimated at about 100.000 m3 for each event

DAMAGES    

BIBLIOGRAPHY