|
Top of this page
|
|
A
30-Year Record of Surface Mass Balance (1966-95), and Motion and Surface
Altitude (1975-95) at Wolverine Glacier, Alaska
by Lawrence R. Mayo, Dennis C. Trabant, and Rod S. March
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 2004-1069
ABSTRACT
Scientific measurements at Wolverine Glacier, on the Kenai Peninsula in
south-central Alaska, began in April 1966. At three long-term sites in the
research basin, the measurements included snow depth, snow density, heights
of the glacier surface and stratigraphic summer surfaces on stakes, and
identification of the surface materials. Calculations of the mass balance of
the surface strata - snow, new firn, superimposed ice, and old firn and ice
mass at each site were based on these measurements. Calculations of
fixed-date annual mass balances for each hydrologic year (October 1 to
September 30), as well as net balances and the dates of minimum net balance
measured between time-transgressive summer surfaces on the glacier, were
made on the basis of the strata balances augmented by air temperature and
precipitation recorded in the basin. From 1966 through 1995, the average
annual balance at site A (590 meters altitude) was -4.06 meters water
equivalent; at site B (1,070 meters altitude), was -0.90 meters water
equivalent; and at site C (1,290 meters altitude), was +1.45 meters water
equivalent. Geodetic determination of displacements of the mass balance
stake, and glacier surface altitudes was added to the data set in 1975 to
detect the glacier motion responses to variable climate and mass balance
conditions. The average surface speed from 1975 to 1996 was 50.0 meters per
year at site A, 83.7 meters per year at site B, and 37.2 meters per year at
site C. The average surface altitudes were 594 meters at site A, 1,069
meters at site B, and 1,293 meters at site C; the glacier surface altitudes
rose and fell over a range of 19.4 meters at site A, 14.1 meters at site B,
and 13.2 meters at site C.
Mayo, L.R., Trabant, D.C., and March, R.S., 2004, A 30-Year Record of
Surface Mass Balance (1966-95), and Motion and Surface Altitude (1975-95) at
Wolverine Glacier, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 2004-1069, 105 p.
[Full Report: in html;
in Acrobat PDF (1.96 MB)]
Adobe Acrobat's .pdf (portable document file) format can be viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader
available for DOS, Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX. This link will allow you to get the free
download and installation instructions from Adobe.
Document Accessibility :
Adobe Systems Incorporated has information about PDF and the visually
challenged. This information provides tools to help make PDF files
accessible to the visually disabled. These tools convert Adobe PDF
documents into HTML or ASCII text, which can then be read by a number of
common screen reading programs that synthesize text as audible speech.
In addition an accessible version of Acrobat Reader for Windows (English
only), which contains support for screen readers, is available. These
tools and the accessible reader may be obtained free of charge from
Adobe at URL: <
http://access.adobe.com/>
Maintainer: Rod March
Last update:
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:54 AM
URL: http://ak.water.usgs.gov/glaciology/wolverine/reports/ofr_2004-1069/
|