Platigliole Glacier
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The Platigliole Glacier was a glacier in the Northern Italian Alps near to the border with Switzerland. It marked the border between Italian Lombardy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the First World War, when it was the scene of mountain warfare, during the White War. After the war the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye granted the glacier to Italy. The glacier fragmented later in the 20th century and by 2021 had largely melted, releasing artefacts from the war.
The Platigliole Glacier lay near the Platigliole Pass, a mountain pass of 2,908 metres (9,541 ft) elevation above sea level in the Stelvio National Park in Northern Italy. Platigliole lies in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy, close to the border with Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.[1][2] It lies close to the modern border with Switzerland on the north-west face of a peak with altitude of 3,271 metres (10,732 ft).[3] Historically, until the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the glacier marked the boundary between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Because of its political situation it was little-studied compared to other Alpine glaciers.[2]
Historical maps show the Platigliole Glacier was joined to the Trafoi Glacier until around 1872.[2] Meltwater from the glacier disappeared into karst sinkholes.[3] In the 20th century the glacier reduced in size and split into four fragments. It had a total ice area of 0.59 square kilometres (0.23 sq mi) in 1954, 0.39 square kilometres (0.15 sq mi) in 1981, 0.27 square kilometres (0.10 sq mi) in 1990 and 0.17 square kilometres (0.066 sq mi) in 2003.[4] The Italian Glacialogical Committee registered the glacier on 31 August 2006 and recorded the location as 46°30′40″N 10°27′14″E / 46.511°N 10.454°E. The committee's survey noted the glacier had a maximum elevation of 3,165 metres (10,384 ft), a minimum elevation of 2,938 metres (9,639 ft) and a total length of 252 metres (827 ft).[5] The surface area was recorded as 0.12 square kilometres (0.046 sq mi), this had fallen to 0.11 square kilometres (0.042 sq mi) when measured in 2007.[5][4] The glacier was described as "largely melted" by 2021.[1] The former extent of the glacier has been quickly vegetated, potentially assisted by the fine-grained moraine.[6]
