Kilimanjaro

Abstract

Currently, there are ~8 distinct ice entities on Kibo, together covering a total area of less than 2 km2 and all remnants of a once larger ice cap. The summit glaciers are relatively flat, with near-vertical margins, and the slope glaciers today are concentrated on the mountain’s southwest-and northwest-facing flanks. Glaciers on Kilimanjaro are a product of climatic conditions at the summit that no longer exist, as no area of accumulation has existed for many decades and perhaps since the current recession began. Today, as in the past, snow cover on the mountain is seasonal and subject to considerable interannual variability. Measurements and modeling in recent years have demonstrated that the mass and energy balances on horizontal ice surfaces are very sensitive to the magnitude and frequency of snowfall events – perhaps increasingly so as dirt concentration increases on exposed, ablating ice surfaces.