Rate of Collapse of Snow-Bank Kames in Adams Inlet, Southeastern Alaska

Abstract

Mounds formed by the differential ablation of snow covered by varied thicknesses of sand that has slumped onto a snow bank from an adjacent bluff are here named snow-bank kames. The rate of collapse of these mounds, calculated from temperature observations in the sand and using the temperature-gradient method, was 2.2 cm day-1. The observed rate of lowering for these mounds was between 2.6 and 3.2 cm day-1. The difference in rates may be due to mechanisms of heat transfer other than conduction.