Climatic Inferences from Firn Studies in Northern Ellesmere Island

The Gilman Glacier is one of the main outlet glaciers flowing southeastwards to Lake Hazen from the central ice cap of northern Ellesmere Island (Fig. 1). Detailed geophysical, glaciological and meteorological studies were made on this glacier and on the adjoining ice cap in the summers of 1957 and 1958 as part of the Canadian I.G.Y. programme. In continuation of this programme, limited data were obtained during the summer of 1959 (the year of I.G.C.) and in the early summer of 1960. References will be made to this earlier work during the course of the present paper. Detailed glaciological and meteorological studies were resumed on the glacier and ice cap during the period from mid-May to mid-August of 1961; emphasis was placed on studies of firn stratigraphy and measurements of heat balance on the summit of the ice cap (Hattersley-Smith, 1962 a). In the present paper the results of the stratigraphic studies are presented, and an attempt is made to relate these