Topographical effects on the equilibrium-line altitude on glaciers |
| |
| Authors: | Atle Nesje |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Breiviken 2, N-5035 Bergen-Sandviken, Norway |
| |
| Abstract: | The most common approaches used to calculate the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) on former glaciers are: a) the maximum elevation of lateral moraines (MELM), b) the median elevation of glaciers (MEG), c) the toe-to-headwall altitude ratio (THAR), and d) the ratio of the accumulation area to the total area (AAR), of which the AAR method is considered to be the most accurate.A theoretical evaluation of the AAR approach, using changing slope angles and valley morphology on idealized glaciers at two different positions, shows that glaciers advancing into flat areas underestimate the ELA depression, while glaciers moving into areas of increasing slope angle, overestimate the ELA difference. Therefore, topographical and morphological effects on calculated ELA depressions on glaciers must be carefully evaluated. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
