The Editor, Journal of Glaciology
Sir,
The method of analysing accumulation measurements employed by Reference MockMock (1967) resulted in a map with curves of equal accumulation for the Greenland ice sheet. This analytical method represents a considerable advance over previously available data (Reference BaderBader, 1961). Despite the legitimate reservations expressed by the author, I nevertheless suspect that such a map is intended for the determination of total accumulation for the accumulation zone of the ice sheet.
I have made such a calculation by measuring the areas of equal accumulation with a planimeter for the accumulation zone of the Greenland ice sheet,a zone which I have defined elsewhere (Reference BaderBauer, [1956], Reference Bauer1966). The map at my disposal was of small scale, so that my calculation only gives the order of magnitude. For an accumulation area of 1 471 800 km2, the sum of the partial accumulations is 480 km3 water equivalent; the mean accumulation deduced from this is 32 g cm−2, or somewhat smaller than the values assumed by other authors.
4 December 1967