COORDINATES: 79°27' N / 90°40' W
Photo taken by C.S.L. Ommanney (NHRI - Canadian Glacier Information Centre, date unknown)
COORDINATES: 79°27' N / 90°40' W
Photo taken by C.S.L. Ommanney (NHRI - Canadian Glacier Information
Centre, date unknown)
White Glacier is a valley glacier occupying 38.7 km2 in the Expedition Fiord area of Axel Heiberg Island, N.W.T. It extends in elevation from 1782 m to 56 m a.s.l. Sea-level temperature in the Expedition Fiord area averages about -20 °C, but the glacier is known to have a bed which is partly unfrozen, at least beneath the valley tongue; ice thickness reaches or exceeds 400 m. Annual precipitation at sea level is very low, about 100 mm. Annual accumulation, however, is greater at higher altitudes, reaching 380 mm/a at 2000 m on the Mueller Ice Cap to the north of White Glacier. Annual ablation at the terminus of the glacier is typically 2000 - 4000 mm. The terminus appears to be retreating steadily at about 5 m/a.
The "normal" mass-balance for 29 years recorded, i.e., 1960 to 1991, was -100 +/-48 mm, with extreme annual values of -780 mm and 350 mm. The balance years 1993/94 (-314 mm) and 1994/95 (-362 mm) were more negative than normal by about 1 or 2 standard errors. The variation of mass balance with altitude was comparable with that observed in previous years, with a steep gradient and substantial small-scale variability at lower altitudes; the balance is comparatively much less variable, and smaller in magnitude, in the upper ablation area and in the accumulation area.
