scholarly journals Downscaling CESM2 in CLM5 to Hindcast Pre‐Industrial Equilibrium Line Altitudes for Tropical Mountain Glaciers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas G. Heavens
Keyword(s):  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Tropical Mountain

scholarly journals From Doktor Kurowski's Schneegrenze to our modern glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA)

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 3165-3204 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Braithwaite
Keyword(s):  
Close Agreement ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Surface Mass Balance ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Precipitation Increase ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Balanced Budget

Abstract. 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 been little tested except 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 modern 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 area 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.

scholarly journals The reaction of mountain glaciers to climatic change under continental conditions

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 415-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Kunakhovitch ◽  
A. M. Sokalskaya
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Meltwater Runoff ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
Major River ◽  
Accumulation Area Ratio ◽  
Line Positions

Data on the distribution of accumulation with elevation were used to calculate ablation, internal accumulation, annual mass balance and glacier runoff for the Tien Shan glaciers with a total area of about 15 500 km2. The altitudinal profile of normalized ablation is approximated by an exponential curve. Mass-balance components and glacier runoff are calculated for the whole possible range of glacier equilibrium-line positions in the major river and lake basins of the Tien Shan. For steady state it was found that the equilibrium line rises from 3600 m in western areas to 4400 m in the east, whilst the accumulation area ratio and glacier runoff increase eastward from 63% to 71%, and from 600 to 1200 mm, respectively. Losses of meltwater runoff for internal accumulation average 7% (5–11%). In abnormally warm years, mass balance may reach –2300 mm w. e. in the west and –855 mm in the east and in the internal Tien Shan (Khan Tengry massif). Glacier runoff volume in those years has been estimated at 40 km3 year–1, which is 2.5 times as large as for the steady state.

scholarly journals Relation between the Mass Balance of Western Canadian Mountain Glaciers and Meteorological Data

1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (116) ◽  
pp. 11-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Letréguilly
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Summer Temperature ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Mountain Glaciers

AbstractThe mass balance, summer balance, winter balance, and equilibrium-line altitude of three Canadian glaciers (Peyto, Place, and Sentinel Glaciers) are compared with the meteorological records of neighbouring stations for the period 1966—84. While Peyto Glacier’s mass balance is almost entirely related to summer temperature, Sentinel Glacier’s mass balance is mostly controlled by winter precipitation. Place Glacier is influenced by both elements. Statistical reconstructions are presented for the three glaciers, using the best regression equations with the meteorological records since 1938.

Middle to Late Amazonian tropical mountain glaciers on Mars: The ages of the Tharsis Montes fan-shaped deposits

2014 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 52-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth J. Kadish ◽  
James W. Head ◽  
James L. Fastook ◽  
David R. Marchant
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Tropical Mountain

scholarly journals Recent glaciation at high elevations on Arsia Mons, Mars: Implications for the formation and evolution of large tropical mountain glaciers

2007 ◽  
Vol 112 (E3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Shean ◽  
James W. Head ◽  
James L. Fastook ◽  
David R. Marchant
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Tropical Mountain ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
High Elevations

scholarly journals The reaction of mountain glaciers to climatic change under continental conditions

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 415-420
Author(s):  
M. G. Kunakhovitch ◽  
A. M. Sokalskaya
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Meltwater Runoff ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
Major River ◽  
Accumulation Area Ratio ◽  
Line Positions

Data on the distribution of accumulation with elevation were used to calculate ablation, internal accumulation, annual mass balance and glacier runoff for the Tien Shan glaciers with a total area of about 15 500 km2. The altitudinal profile of normalized ablation is approximated by an exponential curve. Mass-balance components and glacier runoff are calculated for the whole possible range of glacier equilibrium-line positions in the major river and lake basins of the Tien Shan.For steady state it was found that the equilibrium line rises from 3600 m in western areas to 4400 m in the east, whilst the accumulation area ratio and glacier runoff increase eastward from 63% to 71%, and from 600 to 1200 mm, respectively. Losses of meltwater runoff for internal accumulation average 7% (5–11%).In abnormally warm years, mass balance may reach –2300 mm w. e. in the west and –855 mm in the east and in the internal Tien Shan (Khan Tengry massif). Glacier runoff volume in those years has been estimated at 40 km3 year–1, which is 2.5 times as large as for the steady state.

The (mis)conception of an average Quaternary equilibrium line altitude

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Spagnolo ◽  
Brice Rea ◽  
Iestyn Barr
Keyword(s):  
Equilibrium Line ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Quantitative Expression ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Simple Definition ◽  
Do So

<p>The glacier equilibrium line altitude (ELA) represents the elevation on the glacier surface at which the amount of mass gained (via precipitation, avalanching and windblown snow, equals the amount of ice lost (via ablation and sublimation, over the mass balance year. The ELA can be measured on modern glaciers or calculated for reconstructed, former glaciers. Despite its simple definition, the ELA represents an incredibly powerful, quantitative expression of the relationship between glaciers and climate. As a glacier responds dynamically to climate, so does the ELA. Precipitation at the glacier ELA has been empirically linked to ablation season temperature. Thus, the reconstruction of former glacier geometries and their ELAs leads to the quantification of palaeoclimate.</p><p>In recent years, the concept of an “average Quaternary ELA” (or “mean Quaternary ELA”) has become popular because of the role it might play in relation to the glacial buzzsaw hypothesis, i.e. the idea that glacial erosion could offset mountain uplift and therefore control and limit the growth of mountains. Attempts to determine the average Quaternary ELA have been undertaken, leading to some interesting conclusions. For example, it has been argued that the floor altitudes of glacial cirques can be used as a measure of average Quaternary ELA, therefore implying that average Quaternary mountain glaciers expansion was confined to the topmost portion of alpine valleys.</p><p>Time has passed from these initial attempts to determine the average Quaternary ELA and more palaeoclimatic and palaeoglaciological data have become available, so it is appropriate to reconsider these calculations and perhaps question the validity of such a concept. To do so, we revisit how the idea of an average Quaternary ELA developed and what such a parameter would really mean. We do so in light of a new quantitative study on the average ELA relative to both a single glacial cycle and multiple glaciations experienced during the past   ̴2.6 million years, i.e. the Quaternary. Collectively, this new study presents a very different perspective than previously suggested.</p>

Ice Cores from Tropical Mountain Glaciers as Archives of Climate Change

2005 ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lonnie G. Thompson ◽  
Mary E. Davis ◽  
Ping-Nan Lin ◽  
Ellen Mosley-Thompson ◽  
Henry H. Brecher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Tropical Mountain
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