The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic
Abstract McCall Glacier has the only long-term mass-balance record in Arctic-Alaska. Average annual balances over the periods 1958–72 and 1972–93 were –15 and –33cm, respectively; recent annual balances (1993–96) are about –60 cm, and the mass-balance gradient has increased. For an Arctic glacier, w...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000002665 2024-03-03T08:41:26+00:00 The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic Rabus, B.T. Echelmeyer, K. A. 1998 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000002665 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000002665 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 44, issue 147, page 333-351 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1998 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000002665 2024-02-08T08:37:11Z Abstract McCall Glacier has the only long-term mass-balance record in Arctic-Alaska. Average annual balances over the periods 1958–72 and 1972–93 were –15 and –33cm, respectively; recent annual balances (1993–96) are about –60 cm, and the mass-balance gradient has increased. For an Arctic glacier, with its low mass-exchange rate, this marks a significant negative trend. Recently acquired elevation profiles of McCall Glacier and ten other glaciers within a 30 km radius were compared with topographic maps made in 1956 or 1973. Most of these glaciers had average annual mass balances between –25 and –33 cm, while McCall Glacier averaged –28 cm for 1956–93, indicating that it is representative of the region. In contrast, changes in terminus position for the different glaciers vary markedly. Thus, mass-balance trends in this region cannot be estimated from fractional length changes at time-scales of a few decades. We developed a simple degree-day/accumulation mass-balance model for McCall Glacier. The model was tested using precipitation and radiosonde temperatures from weather stations at Inuvik, Canada, and Barrow, Kaktovik and Fairbanks, Alaska, and was calibrated with the measured balances. The Inuvik data reproduce all measured mass balances of McCall Glacier well and also reproduce the long-term trend towards more negative balances. Data from the other stations do not produce satisfactory model results. We speculate that the Arctic Front, oriented east–west in this region, causes the differences in model results. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barrow Brooks Range Climate change glacier glacier* glaciers Inuvik Journal of Glaciology Alaska Cambridge University Press Arctic Fairbanks Canada Inuvik ENVELOPE(-133.610,-133.610,68.341,68.341) McCall ENVELOPE(-66.619,-66.619,-67.029,-67.029) Journal of Glaciology 44 147 333 351 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Rabus, B.T. Echelmeyer, K. A. The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract McCall Glacier has the only long-term mass-balance record in Arctic-Alaska. Average annual balances over the periods 1958–72 and 1972–93 were –15 and –33cm, respectively; recent annual balances (1993–96) are about –60 cm, and the mass-balance gradient has increased. For an Arctic glacier, with its low mass-exchange rate, this marks a significant negative trend. Recently acquired elevation profiles of McCall Glacier and ten other glaciers within a 30 km radius were compared with topographic maps made in 1956 or 1973. Most of these glaciers had average annual mass balances between –25 and –33 cm, while McCall Glacier averaged –28 cm for 1956–93, indicating that it is representative of the region. In contrast, changes in terminus position for the different glaciers vary markedly. Thus, mass-balance trends in this region cannot be estimated from fractional length changes at time-scales of a few decades. We developed a simple degree-day/accumulation mass-balance model for McCall Glacier. The model was tested using precipitation and radiosonde temperatures from weather stations at Inuvik, Canada, and Barrow, Kaktovik and Fairbanks, Alaska, and was calibrated with the measured balances. The Inuvik data reproduce all measured mass balances of McCall Glacier well and also reproduce the long-term trend towards more negative balances. Data from the other stations do not produce satisfactory model results. We speculate that the Arctic Front, oriented east–west in this region, causes the differences in model results. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rabus, B.T. Echelmeyer, K. A. |
author_facet |
Rabus, B.T. Echelmeyer, K. A. |
author_sort |
Rabus, B.T. |
title |
The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic |
title_short |
The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic |
title_full |
The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic |
title_fullStr |
The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
The mass balance of McCall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska, U.S.A.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the Arctic |
title_sort |
mass balance of mccall glacier, brooks range, alaska, u.s.a.; its regional relevance and implications for climate change in the arctic |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000002665 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000002665 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-133.610,-133.610,68.341,68.341) ENVELOPE(-66.619,-66.619,-67.029,-67.029) |
geographic |
Arctic Fairbanks Canada Inuvik McCall |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Fairbanks Canada Inuvik McCall |
genre |
Arctic Barrow Brooks Range Climate change glacier glacier* glaciers Inuvik Journal of Glaciology Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barrow Brooks Range Climate change glacier glacier* glaciers Inuvik Journal of Glaciology Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 44, issue 147, page 333-351 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000002665 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
147 |
container_start_page |
333 |
op_container_end_page |
351 |
_version_ |
1792497177862340608 |