FLUCTUATIONS OF THE TERMINUS OF THE MOLTKE GLACIER.

• Main Author: Mock, Steven J.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1966
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; (*GLACIERS; GREENLAND); MOTION; VELOCITY; PHOTOGRAMMETRY; Greenland; Moltke; Wolstenholme Fjord; glacier; Ice; permafrost; Tidewater; Wolstenholme fjord
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0636272; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0636272

The terminus position of the Moltke Glacier (one of 3 glaciers which reach tidewater in Wolstenholme Fjord, Greenland) has been mapped from existing maps and from aerial and terrestrial photographs for the years 1946-47, 1954, 1956, 1962, and 1965. With earlier work by J. W. Wright (1939), a fairly detailed record of terminus position exists for the period 1916 to 1965. The glacier has been in nearly continuous retreat during this period, interrupted by a slight advance from 1926 to 1932. Loss of area has been accelerating since 1946-47. Ice flow velocity near the terminus has fluctuated through a known range from 30 m/yr to over 1000 m/yr. The observed changes in velocity may be connected with the arrival of broad kinematic waves near the terminus. The waves could lead to an increase in sliding velocity if the bed of the glacier, at least in the extreme lower reaches, is near or at the pressure melting point. (Author)