CAS ES 351 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Orbital Eccentricity, Milankovitch Cycles, Oxygen-18
26 Apr 2019
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When temps are really low, air carries little water vapor so rates of ice accumulation are low. Calving (shedding of icebergs to the ocean after breaking off) is where ice leaves the main mass of ice and drifts elsewhere to melt. The glacier mass balance at very cold temps is positive but small because so little snow falls. The mass balance in temps near -15 and -10c (warmer than previous sentence) is more positive because more snow falls (not as cold) and ablation is not fast. Above -10c ( warm ), ablation increases and overwhelms accumulation, so mass balance is negative. Scientists first thought we had to look at the winter season for continental ice sheet growth but this was wrong because: ~ice sheets grow at high latitudes where temps are always cold in the winter even during warm periods. ~and the sun always lies low at these latitudes regardless of orbital changes.
