From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA)
Translated into modern terminology, Kurowski suggested in 1891 that the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of a glacier is equal to the mean altitude of the glacier when the whole glacier is in balance between accumulation and ablation. Kurowski's method has been widely misunderstood, partly due t...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:7485539288e345bebc6cea696a3717f4 2023-05-15T18:32:23+02:00 From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) R. J. Braithwaite 2015-11-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2135-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/2135/2015/tc-9-2135-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7485539288e345bebc6cea696a3717f4 en eng Copernicus Publications 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-9-2135-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/2135/2015/tc-9-2135-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7485539288e345bebc6cea696a3717f4 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 9, Iss 6, Pp 2135-2148 (2015) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2015 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2135-2015 2023-01-22T17:58:07Z Translated into modern terminology, Kurowski suggested in 1891 that the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of a glacier is equal to the mean altitude of the glacier when the whole glacier is in balance between accumulation and ablation. Kurowski's method has been widely misunderstood, partly due to inappropriate use of statistical terminology by later workers, and has only been tested by Braithwaite and Müller in a 1980 paper (for 32 glaciers). I now compare Kurowski's mean altitude with balanced-budget ELA calculated for 103 present-day glaciers with measured surface mass-balance data. Kurowski's mean altitude is significantly higher (at 95 % level) than balanced-budget ELA for 19 outlet and 42 valley glaciers, but not significantly higher for 34 mountain glaciers. The error in Kurowski mean altitude as a predictor of balanced-budget ELA might be due to generally lower balance gradients in accumulation areas compared with ablation areas for many glaciers, as suggested by several workers, but some glaciers have higher gradients, presumably due to precipitation increase with altitude. The relatively close agreement between balanced-budget ELA and mean altitude for mountain glaciers (mean error – 8 m with standard deviation 59 m) may reflect smaller altitude ranges for these glaciers such that there is less room for effects of different balance gradients to manifest themselves. Article in Journal/Newspaper The Cryosphere Unknown Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) The Cryosphere 9 6 2135 2148 |
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geo envir R. J. Braithwaite From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) |
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geo envir |
description |
Translated into modern terminology, Kurowski suggested in 1891 that the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of a glacier is equal to the mean altitude of the glacier when the whole glacier is in balance between accumulation and ablation. Kurowski's method has been widely misunderstood, partly due to inappropriate use of statistical terminology by later workers, and has only been tested by Braithwaite and Müller in a 1980 paper (for 32 glaciers). I now compare Kurowski's mean altitude with balanced-budget ELA calculated for 103 present-day glaciers with measured surface mass-balance data. Kurowski's mean altitude is significantly higher (at 95 % level) than balanced-budget ELA for 19 outlet and 42 valley glaciers, but not significantly higher for 34 mountain glaciers. The error in Kurowski mean altitude as a predictor of balanced-budget ELA might be due to generally lower balance gradients in accumulation areas compared with ablation areas for many glaciers, as suggested by several workers, but some glaciers have higher gradients, presumably due to precipitation increase with altitude. The relatively close agreement between balanced-budget ELA and mean altitude for mountain glaciers (mean error – 8 m with standard deviation 59 m) may reflect smaller altitude ranges for these glaciers such that there is less room for effects of different balance gradients to manifest themselves. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
R. J. Braithwaite |
author_facet |
R. J. Braithwaite |
author_sort |
R. J. Braithwaite |
title |
From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) |
title_short |
From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) |
title_full |
From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) |
title_fullStr |
From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) |
title_full_unstemmed |
From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) |
title_sort |
from doktor kurowski's schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ela) |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2135-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/2135/2015/tc-9-2135-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7485539288e345bebc6cea696a3717f4 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) |
geographic |
Ela |
geographic_facet |
Ela |
genre |
The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 9, Iss 6, Pp 2135-2148 (2015) |
op_relation |
1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-9-2135-2015 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/9/2135/2015/tc-9-2135-2015.pdf https://doaj.org/article/7485539288e345bebc6cea696a3717f4 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2135-2015 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2135 |
op_container_end_page |
2148 |
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1766216491871502336 |