USGS Logo Geological Survey Professional Paper 715—B
Combined Ice and Water Balances of Maclure Glacier, California, South Cascade Glacier, Washington, and Wolverine and Gulkana Glaciers, Alaska, 1967 Hydrologic Year

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the International Hydrological Decade (1965-74) is to increase the understanding and to promote the efficient use of the Earth's freshwater supply. Seasonal snowpacks and glaciers account for approximately three fourths of the Earth's freshwater; thus a good understanding of the processes involved in the accumulation and ablation of glaciers and snowpacks is essential to account for their role in the hydrologic cycle. An objective of the glaciologic portion of the IHD is to better understand the ice, water, and heat balances of glaciers (UNESCO/IASH, 1970).

Studies on the four glaciers covered in this report are part of the United States' contribution to the IHD program of combined heat, ice, and water balances of selected glacier basins. In the first report of this series (Meier and others, 1971), the hydrologic years 1965 and 1966 were covered along with the description and regional setting for each glacier. This paper reports the results of the 1967 hydrologic year for these glaciers. Information essential to the understanding of terminology in this report is presented in the first report of this series and in a report on glacier mass balance terminology (Meier and others, 1971; Mayo and others, 1972).



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Last Updated: 28-Mar-2006