Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91
Abstract White Glacier is a valley glacier at 79.5°N with an area of 38.7 km 2 . Its mass balance has been measured, over 32 years with a 3 year gap, by standard techniques using the stratigraphic system with a stake density of the order of one stake per km 2 . Errors in stake mass balance are about...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000003531 2024-03-03T08:42:53+00:00 Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 Cogley, J.Graham Adams, W. P. Ecclestone, M. A. Jung-Rothenhäusler, F. Ommanney, C. S. L. 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003531 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000003531 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 42, issue 142, page 548-563 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1996 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003531 2024-02-08T08:41:37Z Abstract White Glacier is a valley glacier at 79.5°N with an area of 38.7 km 2 . Its mass balance has been measured, over 32 years with a 3 year gap, by standard techniques using the stratigraphic system with a stake density of the order of one stake per km 2 . Errors in stake mass balance are about ±(200–250) mm, due largely to the local unrepresentativeness of measurements. Errors in the whole-glacier mass balance B are of the same order as single-slake errors. However, the lag-1 autocorrelation in the time series of B is effectively zero, so it consists of independent random samples, and the error in the long-term “balance normal” 〈B〉 is noticeably less. 〈B〉 is −100 ± 48 mm. The equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) averages 970 m. with a range of 470–1400 m. Mass balance is well correlated with ELA, but detailed modelling shows that the equilibrium line is undetectable on visible-band satellite images. A reduced network of a few stakes could give acceptable but less accurate estimates of the mass balance, as could estimates based on data from a weather station 120 km away. There is no evidence of a trend in the mass balance of White Glacier. To detect a climatologically plausible trend will require a ten-fold reduction of measurement error, a conclusion which may well apply to most estimates of mass balance based on similar stake densities. Article in Journal/Newspaper Axel Heiberg Island glacier* Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Canada Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Heiberg ENVELOPE(13.964,13.964,66.424,66.424) Axel Heiberg Island ENVELOPE(-91.001,-91.001,79.752,79.752) White Glacier ENVELOPE(-90.667,-90.667,79.447,79.447) Journal of Glaciology 42 142 548 563 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Cogley, J.Graham Adams, W. P. Ecclestone, M. A. Jung-Rothenhäusler, F. Ommanney, C. S. L. Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract White Glacier is a valley glacier at 79.5°N with an area of 38.7 km 2 . Its mass balance has been measured, over 32 years with a 3 year gap, by standard techniques using the stratigraphic system with a stake density of the order of one stake per km 2 . Errors in stake mass balance are about ±(200–250) mm, due largely to the local unrepresentativeness of measurements. Errors in the whole-glacier mass balance B are of the same order as single-slake errors. However, the lag-1 autocorrelation in the time series of B is effectively zero, so it consists of independent random samples, and the error in the long-term “balance normal” 〈B〉 is noticeably less. 〈B〉 is −100 ± 48 mm. The equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) averages 970 m. with a range of 470–1400 m. Mass balance is well correlated with ELA, but detailed modelling shows that the equilibrium line is undetectable on visible-band satellite images. A reduced network of a few stakes could give acceptable but less accurate estimates of the mass balance, as could estimates based on data from a weather station 120 km away. There is no evidence of a trend in the mass balance of White Glacier. To detect a climatologically plausible trend will require a ten-fold reduction of measurement error, a conclusion which may well apply to most estimates of mass balance based on similar stake densities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cogley, J.Graham Adams, W. P. Ecclestone, M. A. Jung-Rothenhäusler, F. Ommanney, C. S. L. |
author_facet |
Cogley, J.Graham Adams, W. P. Ecclestone, M. A. Jung-Rothenhäusler, F. Ommanney, C. S. L. |
author_sort |
Cogley, J.Graham |
title |
Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 |
title_short |
Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 |
title_full |
Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 |
title_fullStr |
Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mass balance of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada, 1960–91 |
title_sort |
mass balance of white glacier, axel heiberg island, n.w.t., canada, 1960–91 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003531 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000003531 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) ENVELOPE(13.964,13.964,66.424,66.424) ENVELOPE(-91.001,-91.001,79.752,79.752) ENVELOPE(-90.667,-90.667,79.447,79.447) |
geographic |
Canada Ela Heiberg Axel Heiberg Island White Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Canada Ela Heiberg Axel Heiberg Island White Glacier |
genre |
Axel Heiberg Island glacier* Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Axel Heiberg Island glacier* Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 42, issue 142, page 548-563 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003531 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
42 |
container_issue |
142 |
container_start_page |
548 |
op_container_end_page |
563 |
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1792498342038601728 |