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 GROWTH
OF WOLVERINE GLACIER, ALASKA; DETERMINED FROM SURFACE ALTITUDE MEASUREMENTS,
1974 AND 1985
by Lawrence R. Mayo, Rod S. March, and Dennis C. Trabant
in Dwight, L.P., Resolving Alaska's Water Resources Conflicts,
Proceedings, Alaska Section, American Water Resources Association, Inst. of
Water Resources/Engineering Experiment Station, Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks,
Report IWR-108, 212 p.
ABSTRACT
Precision surveys of the glacier surface altitude in 1974 at 73 locations
along a longitudinal and three transverse profiles of 18.1 square kilometer
Wolverine Glacier were made to provide baseline data to help understand the
present regime of glaciers in Alaska. In 1985, 66 of these sites were
remeasured to determine glacier thickening and thinning during the 11-year
interval.
The accumulation zone and the upper part of the ablation tong of the
glacier thickened about 5 meters with a net gain of 70x106 cubic
meters. The lower part of the ablation zone thinned with more than 30 meters
of loss at the terminus and with g net loss of 15x106
cubic meters. The glacier thus gained 55x106
cubic meters or an average thickness increase of 3.0±0.7 meters at an
average rate of 0.28 meters per year. This verifies an earlier measurement
of glacier growth at Wolverine Glacier caused by recent increases in
precipitation (Mayo and Trabant, 1984).
The different responses in the two zones of the glacier indicate that a
hydrologically significant climate shift has occurred and that the glacier
flow is not in equilibrium with present conditions. Runoff has been less
than precipitation during this period of glacier growth.
Contents
Introduction
Glacier Surface Surveys
Observed Changes in Glacier Surface Altitude
Volume Change of the Glacier
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
Mayo, L.R., March, R.S., and Trabant, D.C., 1985, Growth of Wolverine
Glacier, Alaska; Determined from surface altitude measurements, 1974 and
1985: in Dwight, L.P., Resolving Alaska's Water Resources Conflicts,
Proceedings, Alaska Section, American Water Resources Association, Inst.
of Water Resources/Engineering Experiment Station, Univ. of
Alaska-Fairbanks, Report IWR-108, 212 p.
[Full Report: in Acrobat PDF,
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Maintainer: Rod March
Last update:
Wednesday, May 02, 2007 01:34 PM
URL: http://ak.water.usgs.gov/glaciology/wolverine/reports/1985_wolv_growth/index.htm
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