Mass Balance Factsheet for the South Cascade Glacier, Cascade Mountains
South Cascade Glacier is a temperate mountain glacier located in the Cascade Mountains, Washington. This glacier has been classified as one of the ‘reference glaciers’ by the World Glacier Monitoring Service because it has received continuous long-term observations dating back to the year 1952/53. Year-to-year variations in snow accumulation on the glacier are largely attributable to the regional maritime climate and fluctuating climate conditions of the North Pacific Ocean. Long-term average precipitation is about 4500 mm and most of that falls as snow during October through May. Average annual air temperature at 1900 m altitude (the approximate ELA) was estimated to be 1.6 °C during 2000-2009 (WGMS, 2011). For additional information on the status of the glacier and on data relating to annual mass balance and other measurements, visit the WGMS Fluctuations of Glaciers Browser.
FACTS:
- Political unit: US
- WGMS ID: 205
- Latitude: 48.37°N
- Longitude: 121.05°W
- Height min: 1630 m a.s.l.
- Height max: 2275 m a.s.l.
- Measurement types: MASS BALANCE, THICKNESS CHANGE & FRONT VARIATION
- Current Principal Investigator: ERIN WHORTON, CAITLYN FLORENTINE & Colleagues
- Current Sponsoring Agency: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY – WASHINGTON WATER SCIENCE CENTER (TACOMA, US) & NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCIENCE CENTER
South Cascade Glacier in October 2014 (taken by Matt Bachmann on 10/10/2014)
Terrestrial and satellite map of South Cascade Glacier (Google Maps)
South Cascade Annual Mass Balance (WGMS, 2016)
Continuous Mass Balance (MB) measurements since 1952/53:
Additional data available: Front Variation (FV), Thickness Change (TC) and Glacier Outlines:
