Part I: Method of Nourishment of the Barnes Ice Cap

Abstract

AbstractThe Barnes Ice Cap on Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada, was investigated during the summer of 1950. This ice cap, some 6000 sq. km. in extent, appears to have an approximately balanced budget, and yet there is no firn on its surface. It is postulated that its nourishment is by superimposed ice due to immediate refreezing of much of the melt water of summer. It is further inferred that a similar process nourishes many Arctic glaciers and ice caps where elevation, precipitation and temperature are all low. The name “Baffin Type” is proposed for these in the classification of glaciers.