Abstract
The published results of previous investigations reveal that meteorologists and glaciologists are not in agreement as to the role of the Ice Cap as a cold source in the general circulation, the importance of the Ice Cap as a barrier to air movements in the lower levels, and the principal sources of nourishment for the Ice Cap itself. These questionable issues regarding the Ice Cap arose from conflicting opinions as to the mechanism of the “Glacial Anticyclone,” and from a lack of conclusive observational data. Modern knowledge concerning Greenland from the standpoint of synoptic meteorology has been enriched by an abundance of surface and upper-air data. This new survey of Ice Cap problems, based upon a study of synoptic weather charts and the author's experiences on the Ice Cap, leads to the following conclusions: The important outbreaks of Ice Cap air require a favorable stage in the general circulation and are not due to “strokes” of the Glacial Anticyclone; the transit of fronts and storms across the Ice Cap is governed by the general atmospheric circulation, fall and early winter being normally more favorable than summer, but crossings are possible at any time of the year; the principal nourishment for the Ice Cap is derived from normal cyclonic and orographic precipitation processes, and only little is obtained from sublimation deposits.