COORDINATES: 51°41' N / 116°32' W
Photo taken by W.E.S. Henoch (NHRI - Canadian Glacier Information Centre, 1966)
COORDINATES: 51°41' N / 116°32' W
Photo taken by W.E.S. Henoch (NHRI - Canadian Glacier Information
Centre, 1966)
Peyto Glacier is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and contributes flow to the Mistaya River Catchment (12% glacier cover) and the North Saskatchewan River Basin. Peyto Glacier ranges in elevation from 3180 to 2140 m a.s.l. and covers an area of approximately 12 km2. The glacier is surrounded by ice-cored moraines in its lower part. The long-term mean Activity Index for this dry, continental site is 0.8 (dBn/dh in m w.e./100m elevation at the ELA). In general, spatial mass balance patterns are strongly influenced by terrain shading and glacier topography. A significant shift in the annual and seasonal mass balance time series appears to have occurred in the mid 1970s. Recent work has shown that the net winter balance has been lower than average since 1976, and that this shift is commensurate with shifts in synoptic-scale winter climatology for the region.
The 1993/94 and 1994/95 balance years represent records of contrast. In 1993/94, a lower than average winter accumulation was followed by near-record summer ablation characterized by high radiation receipts and strong turbulent energy exchange. In 1994/95, winter accumulation was near the long-term mean, while the ablation period, characterized by low radiation receipts and prolonged periods of low stratus and precipitation in the form of rain, produced lower than average melt.
