Twenty-one years of mass balance observations along the K-transect, West Greenland

Abstract

A 21-yr record is presented of surface mass balance measurements along the K-transect. The series covers the period 1990-2011. Data are available at eight sites along a transect over an altitude range of 380-1850 m at approximately 67° N in West Greenland. The surface mass balance gradient is on average 3.8 × 10-3 m w.e. m-1, and the mean equilibrium line altitude is 1553 m a.s.l. Only the lower three sites within 10 km of the margin up to an elevation of 700 m experience a significant increasing trend in the ablation over the entire period.