| Title | Mass balance of the Devon (NW), Meighen, and South Melville ice caps, Queen Elizabeth Islands for the 2012-2013 balance year |
| Download | Downloads |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Burgess, D O |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7692, 2014, 26 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/295443  Open Access |
| Links | American Meteorological Society
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| Links | World Glacier Monitoring Service
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| Image |  |
| Year | 2014 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is related to the following
publications |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Northwest Territories; Nunavut |
| NTS | 48G; 48H; 58G; 58H; 68G; 68H; 78G; 78H; 88G; 88H; 49; 59; 69; 79; 89; 560; 340 |
| Area | Devon Island; Melville Island; Meighen Island; Queen Elizabeth Islands |
| Lat/Long WENS | -120.0000 -80.0000 84.0000 75.0000 |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; Nature and Environment; icefields; glaciers; ice thickness |
| Illustrations | location maps |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience Essential Climate Variable Monitoring |
| Released | 2014 10 21 |
| Abstract | In-situ glacier mass balance surveys were conducted across the Devon, Meighen, and South Melville ice caps in the Canadian high Arctic by Natural Resources Canada during spring, 2014. Survey results
indicate positive net balance values for the Devon (NW) and Meighen ice caps (+2 and +17 cm w.e. respectively), while the South Melville ice cap experienced slightly negative mass balance (-18 cm w.e.). Results from these glacier surveys are
indicative of relatively cool conditions that prevailed across this region during the summer of 2013. Associated water equivalent volume change for the Devon (NW), Meighen, and South Melville ice caps in 2012-2013 was 0.04, 0.01, and -0.009 Gt
respectively resulted in a net negative contribution to global sea-level rise from these 3 sites for the 2012-2013 balance year. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The Canadian high Arctic holds the single largest mass of ice outside of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Knowledge of annual glacier mass balance
(ie. the difference between input[snow] and output[melt] for any given year) in this region thus provides a robust indicator of climate change, and facilitates assessments of contributions to regional and global sea-level from Canadian glaciers and
ice caps. This report presents a summary of results from the 2014 glacier mass balance surveys (representing the 2012-2013 balance year) conducted by NRCan on the Devon, Melville South, and Meighen ice caps. Overall, glacier mass balance in the Queen
Elizabeth Islands for 2012-2013 indicated a negative contribution to global sea-level rise reflecting relatively cool conditions that prevailed across this region during the summer of 2013. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 295443 |
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