IngentaConnect Volume change of McCall Glacier, Arctic Alaska, USA, 19562003

Authors: Nolan, Matt; Arendt, Anthony; Rabus, Bernhard; Hinzman, Larry

Source: Annals of Glaciology, Volume 42, Number 1, August 2005 , pp. 409-416(8)

Publisher: International Glaciological Society

Abstract:

A long history of research documents that McCall Glacier, Arctic Alaska, USA, continues to lose mass at a rate that is likely increasing with time. We present a photo comparison (1958-2003) that visually documents these volume changes, along with survey measurements that quantify these losses. Measurements of longitudinal profiles initially acquired from airborne laser altimetry, and repeated by ground-based surveys, indicate that the areally averaged rate of thinning increased between 1956-93 and 1993-2002, from 0.35 ± 0.07 m a⁻¹ to 0.47 ± 0.03 m a⁻¹, respectively; total volume loss was (8.3 × 10⁷) ± (1.7 × 10⁷) m³ and (2.7 × 10⁷) ± (0.2 × 10⁷) m³ (all in water equivalent) for these two time periods. These profiles also indicate that a 1 km stretch of the mid-ablation area is behaving differently from this trend, with a rate of thinning that is not changing with time. Lastly we present a comparison of several methods for calculating volume change and assess their relative errors.

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Volume change of McCall Glacier, Arctic Alaska, USA, 1956-2003