Abstract:
Baishui Glacier No. 1 of Yulong Mountain, located in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, is the southernmost in the Northern Hemisphere. The glacier flow velocities and features of Baishui Glacier No.1 are analyzed, based on the observation data about the Glacier’s ice flow from September 2011 to September 2013. The results show that in the target area, the ice flow velocity near to the end of the main flow line was much higher, that the maximum horizontal surface velocity was 46 m·a
−1 in the middle of the ice tongue from 2012 to 2013, and that the velocity declined to 25 m·a
−1 in the firn basin. Due to the influences of glacier slope and crack distribution, the maximum vertical velocity, found near the elevation of 4773 m, reached 12 m·a
−1, and the minimum, found near the elevation of 4803 m, was 4 m·a
−1. Because of the influence of basal sliding, the mean velocity of the ice flow from July to September was obviously higher than the monthly mean flow velocity for the whole year.