A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade
On the McCall Glacier, an Arctic glacier in the eastern Brooks Range, northern Alaska, a heat balance study was carried out during the summer of 1970 to investigate quantitatively the relationship between energy transfer, climatic parameters and melting processes. Considering the individual energy b...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1974
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000023339 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000023339 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000023339 2024-03-03T08:36:21+00:00 A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade Wendler, Gerd Weller, Gunter 1974 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000023339 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000023339 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 13, issue 67, page 13-26 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 1974 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000023339 2024-02-08T08:41:37Z On the McCall Glacier, an Arctic glacier in the eastern Brooks Range, northern Alaska, a heat balance study was carried out during the summer of 1970 to investigate quantitatively the relationship between energy transfer, climatic parameters and melting processes. Considering the individual energy balance terms, it was found that radiation is the most important heat source for snow and ice melt. The melting period itself is only 11 weeks long, which is quite short. The evaporation overcompensates for what little condensation occurs, and amounts to about 2% of the total ablation. Evaporation is more important in the spring, but becomes decreasingly so during the summer. The melt water which percolates into the snow-pack and refreezes at a lower level is a more effective way of transporting energy into the ground than conduction, and is of importance during the beginning of the melt period. The summer balance is considerably less energetic than over the tundra north of the Brooks Range. The main difference is a higher surface albedo, and to a lesser extent the protected nature of the glacier in a deep valley on a N–S axis, which reduces the duration of possible sunshine by 39% in summer. These are the important factors in maintaining the McCall Glacier and other similar glaciers in an otherwise low precipitation area. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Brooks Range glacier glaciers Journal of Glaciology Tundra Alaska Cambridge University Press Arctic McCall ENVELOPE(-66.619,-66.619,-67.029,-67.029) Journal of Glaciology 13 67 13 26 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
spellingShingle |
Earth-Surface Processes Wendler, Gerd Weller, Gunter A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
On the McCall Glacier, an Arctic glacier in the eastern Brooks Range, northern Alaska, a heat balance study was carried out during the summer of 1970 to investigate quantitatively the relationship between energy transfer, climatic parameters and melting processes. Considering the individual energy balance terms, it was found that radiation is the most important heat source for snow and ice melt. The melting period itself is only 11 weeks long, which is quite short. The evaporation overcompensates for what little condensation occurs, and amounts to about 2% of the total ablation. Evaporation is more important in the spring, but becomes decreasingly so during the summer. The melt water which percolates into the snow-pack and refreezes at a lower level is a more effective way of transporting energy into the ground than conduction, and is of importance during the beginning of the melt period. The summer balance is considerably less energetic than over the tundra north of the Brooks Range. The main difference is a higher surface albedo, and to a lesser extent the protected nature of the glacier in a deep valley on a N–S axis, which reduces the duration of possible sunshine by 39% in summer. These are the important factors in maintaining the McCall Glacier and other similar glaciers in an otherwise low precipitation area. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wendler, Gerd Weller, Gunter |
author_facet |
Wendler, Gerd Weller, Gunter |
author_sort |
Wendler, Gerd |
title |
A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade |
title_short |
A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade |
title_full |
A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade |
title_fullStr |
A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Heat-Balance Study on Mccall Glacier, Brooks Range, Alaska: A Contribution to the International Hydrological Decade |
title_sort |
heat-balance study on mccall glacier, brooks range, alaska: a contribution to the international hydrological decade |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1974 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000023339 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000023339 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.619,-66.619,-67.029,-67.029) |
geographic |
Arctic McCall |
geographic_facet |
Arctic McCall |
genre |
albedo Arctic Brooks Range glacier glaciers Journal of Glaciology Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Brooks Range glacier glaciers Journal of Glaciology Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 13, issue 67, page 13-26 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000023339 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
67 |
container_start_page |
13 |
op_container_end_page |
26 |
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1792500849936695296 |