Position of Ice Divides and Ice Centers on Ice Sheets

Abstract

Model calculations are made of the magnitude of the shift of the portion of an ice divide on a two dimensional ice sheet and of the “center” (the position of highest elevation) of a circular ice sheet when the rate of accumulation is different on different sides or in different sectors of an ice sheet. It is concluded that gross changes in the accumulation pattern are required to cause an appreciable shift of the position of ice divides or ice centers if the positions of the edge of the ice sheet are fixed.