Abstract
Rather than looking directly at the response of the glacier termini to meteorological factors such as temperature and precipitation, variations in glacier mass balance are used here to give a climatic explanation for glacier fluctuations. In this way, it is possible to clarify the relationship between net mass balance and climate, to investigate the reaction of glaciers to changes in the rate of accumulation and to provide information on the climatic significance of variations in glacier length. An analysis of data derived from regular surveys carried out on seven glaciers, covering a distance of 500 km along the Alps, indicates that mass-balance fluctuations are similar over a wide area and therefore represent a sensitive high-altitude indicator of regional climate.
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© 1983 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Reynaud, L. (1983). Recent Fluctuations of Alpine Glaciers and Their Meteorological Causes: 1880–1980. In: Street-Perrott, A., Beran, M., Ratcliffe, R. (eds) Variations in the Global Water Budget. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6954-4_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6954-4_14
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