CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Cogley, J.G.; Hock, R.; Rasmussen, L.A.; Arendt, A.A.; Bauder, A.; Braithwaite, R.J.; Jansson, P.; Kaser, G.; Möller, M.; Nicholson, L.; and Zemp, M.
Date : 2011.
Title : Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms.
Publication : IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology No. 86, IACS Contribution No. 2, UNESCO-IHP, Paris.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
The aim of this Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms is to update and revise what has long been the effective standard of mass-balance terminology (Anonymous 1969). Although Anonymous (1969) has served glaciology well for 40 years, there is widespread agreement on the need for a new look at terminology. The new Glossary reflects changes in practice with conventional measurement tools, and also in what is possible with the wide range of new tools which were not available in the 1960s, in particular those now available for the measurement of ice-sheet mass balance. The Glossary includes commentary on usage, particularly problematic usage, with recommendations where appropriate. Similar publications have appeared in the past. Armstrong et al. (1973) focus strongly on sea ice. Kotlyakov and Smolyarova (1990) is a valuable multi-lingual source but does not cover mass balance as intensively as mass-balance specialists might wish. Nor does the Russian-language dictionary of Kotlyakov (1984). Glaciers Online (undated) is a valuable source for glaciological terms in general, with excellent illustrations. In neighbouring fields, American Meteorological Society (2000), European Avalanche Services (2009) and Canadian Avalanche Association (undated), Fierz et al. (2009), National Snow and Ice Data Center (undated), PhysicalGeography.net (undated), UNESCO (undated) and van Everdingen (2005) are all valuable tools. None of these, however, offers the scope or the kind of detail envisaged for this Glossary. The scope of the Glossary extends beyond the measurement of mass balance. There are articles covering such subjects as glacier zonation; the definition of glacier features and morphological types of glaciers; the administrative structures within which mass-balance data are archived once collected; and the modelling of mass balance. We have also included some terms that are mainly of historical interest, and some technical terms from other disciplines that appear in reports of mass-balance measurements by newer methods. The purpose of the Glossary is not to impose awkward constraints on the evolution of glaciological usage, but rather to promote clarity and reduce ambiguity in the communication of information about glacier mass balance, as well as to provide a range of useful ancillary material. The Glossary represents a consensus among a group of practising glaciologists. We have tried to steer a middle course between being prescriptive, that is, laying down the law about how terms are to be used, and being descriptive, that is, simply recording the facts of current usage. For example we take a firm position on the meanings of “area” and “Julian day number”. The first is sometimes and the second often used in a way which is mistaken. Neither mistake is helpful, the first being harmful, and we think that both ought to be corrected. On the other hand, we accept that a number of technical terms have more than one meaning or sense, and simply record the variants. Examples include “snow” and “firn”. An example of a pair of terms requiring clear understanding, rather than prescriptive or descriptive definitions, is “internal accumulation” and “refreezing”, where we explain the difference of meaning and recommend that it be observed carefully.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology