On meltwater of snow patches in East Ongul Island, Antarctica

Abstract

Measurement of meltwater from snow patches was made in a small drainage basin near Syowa Station, East Ongul Island, Antarctica, during the period from December 12, 1975 to February 15, 1976, in order to obtain basic data for wastage of ice masses. 4.8×10^3 tons of snow disappeared from the basin during the observation period. Amount of meltwater was measured to be 3.1×10^3 tons in the same period. This fact may indicate that melting accounts for a quite large portion of wastage of snow catches in ice-free areas of polar regions. Investigation on the relationship between climatic elements and wastage showed that the amount of wastage depends mainly on the air temperature from January 1 to 19 when the temperature often exceeds the freezing point, but on solar radiation during the period from January 26 to February 15 when temperature rarely exceeds the freezing point.