: Paleoclimatology: glacier mass balance

study method > mass balance > glacier mass balance

glacier mass balance

The mass balance, or mass budget, of a glacier or ice sheet is defined as the difference between (1) mass input (by net snow/ice accumulation at the surface caused by precipitation, drifting snow, and solid deposition from water vapor, or by subsurface accumulation caused by superimposed ice, where the base of the ice goes from wet to frozen, or by basal accretion in the case of ice shelves) and (2) mass loss (by basal melting, surface sublimation and melting, and ice calving). Crucial to the survival of a glacier is its mass balance or surface mass balance (SMB), the difference between accumulation and ablation (sublimation and melting). Climate change may cause variations in both temperature and snowfall, causing changes in the surface mass balance. Changes in mass balance control a glacier's long-term behavior and are the most sensitive climate indicators on a glacier. A glacier with a sustained negative balance is out of equilibrium and will retreat, while one with a sustained positive balance is out of equilibrium and will advance. Glacier retreat results in the loss of the low elevation region of the glacier. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_mass_balance and P. A. Mayewski et al. (2009), Reviews of Geophysics, 47, RG1003, Paper number 2007RG000231.)

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