Application of a glacier flow model in the reconstruction of past glacier ELA -Combination of geomorphological interpretation and glacier dynamics-

Abstract

 The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of past glaciers are important for understanding the paleoenvironment. Most studies have reconstructed ELA using the accumulation area ratio (AAR) method. However, ELA obtained by AAR depends on the selected AAR value. In this study, we tried to develop a new method called glacier snapshot model (GS model). This method involves a combination of geomorphological interpretation and a glacier flow model. And it is based on the concept of relationship between surface mass balance and flux divergence at each grid. Moreover, to validate the GS model, we carried out ELA reconstruction tests with different calculation conditions.