Alpine glaciers 'protect mountain peaks from erosion'

Mont Blanc's Bossons glacier protects the peak from rain

Instead of wearing mountains down, evidence from Europe's high Alps shows that glaciers shield summits from erosion, acting as a protective lid.

French scientists studied erosion on Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest peak, below and around its glaciers.

Ice at the highest points froze to the mountain rock and played little part in erosion, the team said.

In contrast, water and rain eroded glacier-free areas 10 times faster than areas protected by the glacier.

The research was part of Cécile Godon's doctoral research at Université de Savoie, located on the edge of the French Alps, and appeared in the journal Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters.