On the Thermal Regime of an Arctic Valley Glacier: A Study of White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T., Canada

Abstract

From 1974 to 1981, a total of 32 bore holes was drilled on White Glacier and vertical ice-temperature profiles measured. The data obtained allowed the construction of three longitudinal and four transverse profiles of the two-dimensional temperature distributions. Thus, an extensive layer of temperate or near-temperate ice was discovered close to the bedrock in the lowest part of the glacier tongue. It was also found that the temperature distribution cannot be in a steady state, since there is a temperature minimum 100–150 m below the glacier surface in the accumulation area. A simple numerical model calculation shows that this minimum can be mostly explained by the general climatic warming since 1880. The 10 m temperatures show diffuse relations to climatic conditions and balance zones. A simple scheme for extrapolating “surface temperatures” is discussed.