Glacial-Meteorological Observations on Icecaps in Baffin Island

Orvig, Svenn

doi:10.2307/520205

Cited by 37 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…greater than the mean depth of the annual snowpack. Meltwater can therefore percolate into firn from previous years, and this can occur even in the presence of ice layers [Ward, 1954;Orvig, 1954]. Evidence of deep percolation was observed in the ion chemistry profiles of snowpits and the P95 and P96 ice cores, where "washed-out" sections due to elution, sometimes >2 m, occurred irregularly [Goto-Azuma et al, 2002].…”

Section: Historical Trends In Summer Meltmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It conducted glaciological and climatological observations at various sites on the ice cap, including snow and ice stratigraphy and density, summer melt progression, surface mass balance and energy budget. Detailed methods and findings were reported by Ward [1954], Ward and Baird [1954], and Orvig [1954]. Later in 1979, a reconnaissance study was made to evaluate the potential to recover a deep ice-core climate record from Penny Ice Cap summit.…”

Section: Historical Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The annual thickness of the snow cover measured in late winter at the summit of Penny Ice Cap is presently $1-1.2 m, with a mean density of 350 kg m À3 , and the mean ice accumulation rate Ā, inferred from ice-core data, is 0.37 AE 0.5 m a À1 (0.34 m a À1 water equivalent). The ice cap straddles the Arctic circle (66 N) and experiences up to 20 hours of daylight during the melt season from early June to mid-August, although the total sunshine actually received at the surface is typically less ($26% of maximum) owing to frequent low cloud cover [Orvig, 1954].…”

Section: General Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future field measurements on other transects will determine how representative this profile is of the ice cap as a whole, and help quantify the current total net mass budget DM. Meanwhile, it is instructive to compare the 2007-08 and 2010-11 SMB profiles to measurements made by the 1953 AINA expedition on a different profile facing to the south-southeast, from the highest point on the main ice divide (site A1) to the lower reaches of Highway Glacier (Figure 1) [Orvig, 1954;Ward, 1954]. Altitudes along the 1953 profile were estimated by photogrammetry or theodolite [Orvig, 1954] and may be inaccurate, particularly in the featureless summit area of the ice cap.…”

Section: Surface Mass Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For comparison, we also computed the mean July air temperature lapse rate for 1953, using data from Orvig's [1954] report of the AINA summer expedition, and 1953 weather station records from Cape Dyer.…”

Section: Climatological Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Summer melt rates on Penny Ice Cap, Baffin Island: Past and recent trends and implications for regional climate

et al. 2012

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[1] At latitude 67 N, Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island is the southernmost large ice cap in the Canadian Arctic, yet its past and recent evolution is poorly documented. Here we present a synthesis of climatological observations, mass balance measurements and proxy climate data from cores drilled on the ice cap over the past six decades (1953 to 2011). We find that starting in the 1980s, Penny Ice Cap entered a phase of enhanced melt rates related to rising summer and winter air temperatures across the eastern Arctic. Presently, 70 to 100% (volume) of the annual accumulation at the ice cap summit is in the form of refrozen meltwater. Recent surface melt rates are found to be comparable to those last experienced more than 3000 years ago. Enhanced surface melt, water percolation and refreezing have led to a downward transfer of latent heat that raised the subsurface firn temperature by 10 C (at 10 m depth) since the mid-1990s. This process may accelerate further mass loss of the ice cap by pre-conditioning the firn for the ensuing melt season. Recent warming in the Baffin region has been larger in winter but more regular in summer, and observations on Penny Ice Cap suggest that it was relatively uniform over the 2000-m altitude range of the ice cap. Our findings are consistent with trends in glacier mass loss in the Canadian High Arctic and regional sea-ice cover reduction, reinforcing the view that the Arctic appears to be reverting back to a thermal state not seen in millennia.

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Section: Historical Trends In Summer Meltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Historical Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Surface Mass Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Climatological Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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