摘要：Local glaciers in the Arctic, as elsewhere, are valuable climatic indicators. On a regional scale (Ta- ble 1), their varying ELAs (Equilibrium Line Alti- tudes) or mid-altitudes reflect the dominant direction ofsnow-bearing winds. In the Eurasian Arctic, this is mainly from the Atlantic and ELAs rise eastward (Grosval'd and Kotlyakov 1969; Dowdeswell and Hambrey 2002; Dowdeswell and Hagen 2004). Here I will focus on the effects of accu- mulation area slope aspect on the numbers and alti- tudes of local glaciers. Local slopes affect several components ofglacier mass balance, and we expect that there will be both lower glaciers, and more gla- ciers, facing directions (azimuths, aspects) with more positive mass balances. North: south contrasts due to solar radiation receipts are great in middle latitudes, especially in dry, sunny climates, but diminish toward the Poles (Evans and Cox 2005).
