The physical basis of glacier volume-area scaling
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Abstract
Ice volumes are known for only a few of the roughly 160,000 glaciers worldwide but are important components of many climate and sea level studies which require water flux estimates. A scaling analysis of the mass and momentum conservation equations shows that glacier volumes can be related by a power law to more easily observed glacier surface areas. The relationship requires four closure choices for the scaling behavior of glacier widths, slopes, side drag and mass balance. Reasonable closures predict a volume-area scaling exponent which is consistent with observations, giving a physical and practical basis for estimating ice volumes. Glacier volume is insensitive to perturbations in the mass balance scaling, but changes in average accumulation area ratios reflect significant changes in the scaling of both mass balance and ice volume.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The physical basis of glacier volume-area scaling |
| Series title | Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth |
| DOI | 10.1029/97JB01696 |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue | B9 |
| Year Published | 1997 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Description | 8 p. |
| First page | 20355 |
| Last page | 20362 |
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