Climate, mass balance and glacial changes on small dome of Collins Ice Cap, King George Island, Antarctica

Abstract

During 1991/1992 Chinese Antarctic Expedition, a full-year glacial investigations on the small dome of Collins Ice Cap were carried out, the data from investigations showed that vertical temperature gradients on small dome were about 0.79℃/100 m and 0.66℃/100 m in the summer and in the winter separately. Lower summer temperature in this area is one of most important conditions for glacial development. In 1991/1992 the small dome was a weak positive balance year with a mass balance difference of 163 mm, annual ELA was 140 m, mass balance gradient was 8.4 mm/m and mass balance level was 928 mm. Mass balance fluctuations on small dome in 1971-1992 were calculated by a new method, the results revealed that the small dome of Collins Ice Cap was relatively stable over 21 years.