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A
SYSTEM TO COMBINE STRATIGRAPHIC AND ANNUAL MASS-BALANCE SYSTEMS: A
CONTRIBUTION TO THE INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL DECADE
By Mayo, L.R., Meier, M.F., and Tangborn, W.V.
Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 11, No. 61, 1972
ABSTRACT
Mass-balance quantities at specific points on a glacier as defined in
[IHD] (197o) relate either to annual maxima or minima in ice mass at that
point (the stratigraphic system), or to values at the beginning and end of a
hydrologic year (the annual or fixed-date system). Most quantities measured
in the field relate to summer surfaces, which correspond to the annual
minima at the measurement points. When stratigraphic system point values are
integrated over a whole glacier, the result may be meaningless because
annual maxima and minima and summer surfaces may form at different times at
different places.
The combined system utilizes several kinds of data to derive meaningful
area-average results that can be directly related to other hydrologic and
meteorologic information. Measurements to summer surfaces at certain
specific times, including the beginning and end of a hydrologic year, are
added together with proper recognition of the types of material involved :
old firn and ice, snow and superimposed ice of the year under study, new
firn formed during that year, and late snow deposited toward the end of the
year. Other "balance increment" terms relate values at the beginning and end
of a hydrologic year to corresponding area-average balance minima. As a
result, two types of "net balance" and many other terms are given precise
meaning for a glacier as a whole. The scheme is sufficiently versatile to be
used on any glacier, although the terms relating to summer surfaces are not
defined on a glacier in which ablation or accumulation is continuous
throughout a year.
Mayo, L.R., Meier, M.F., and Tangborn, W.V., 1972, A system to combine
stratigraphic and annual mass-balance systems—a contribution to the
International Hydrologic Decade: Journal of Glaciology, v. 11, no. 61, p.
3–14.
[Full Report, Acrobat PDF (6.2 MB)]
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Maintainer: Rod March
Last update:
Wednesday, January 03, 2007 12:46 PM
URL: http://ak.water.usgs.gov/glaciology/reports/1972_mayo_meier_tangborn/index.htm
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