Glacier behaviour and the influence of upper-air conditions during the Little Ice Age in Disko, central West Greenland

Humlum, Ole: Glacier behaviour and the influence of upper-air conditions during the Little Ice Age in Disko, central West Greenland. Geografisk Tidsskrift 87: 1–12. Copenhagen, June 1987. An inventory of 205 glaciers and small firn areas in southwestern Disko, central West Greenland, display large differences as to the amount of ice recession since the end of the Little Ice Age. Especially high-situated ice bodies facing N and NW have experienced a substantial retreat, while other ice bodies have not. The cause for this difference is investigated by considering the amount of vertical equilibrium line displacement since the end of the Littel Ice Age. From this, it is argued that especially variations in upper-air wind conditions -as measured at the 850 mb level- are responsible for the observed heterogeneous glacial behaviour.