Volume/area scaling of glaciers and ice caps and their longitudinal profiles

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: VALERIO FARAONI
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2016
• Subjects: ice thickness; longitudinal profiles of glaciers and ice caps; volume/area scaling; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.79; https://doaj.org/article/7861063503814b1eacd8c19c02e8e27d

Empirical data on the volume/area scaling of glaciers and ice caps are compared with theoretical models of longitudinal glacier profiles. Ice caps are described well by theoretical solutions of the differential equations modeling longitudinal profiles, but glaciers for which the surface slope is approximated by the ice thickness divided by the length are not. A power-law profile recently derived analytically, reproduces exactly the thickness-length scaling, first predicted by scaling analysis for ice caps.