An empirical glacio-climatic relation (Ohmura et al., 1992) and meteorological data (temperature and precipitation) are employed to provide the elevation in the Tatra Mts. climate model, where conditions are suitable for hypothetical glacierisation (temperature-precipitation ELA). During the Little Ice Age (LIA) it is to have been 1.5C^{\circ} colder than during the warmest decades of the 20th century (Niedźwiedź, 2004); however, some scenarios are used to define precipitation amounts related to the vertical distribution in climate model and temporal variability. The results indicate that during both considered periods - the warmest decades of the 20th century and the coolest period of LIA - the climatic snowline (cSL) was placed in most cases above the highest Tatra Mts. summits and crests. However, its spatial arrangement was unequal. In the vicinity of Kasprowy Wierch, the modern cSL is assessed to be at ca. 2,450-2,650 m a.s.l. and that during LIA at ca. 2,300-2,450 m a.s.l. In the case of Lomnicky Štit (2,634 m) it was at the level of ca. 2,700-2,800 m a.s.l. (modern times) and ca. 2,600-2,700 m a.s.l. (LIA). The discrepancies in the cSL altitude between these two locations can be explained in part by exposition to the prevailing moisture transport and orographically-induced precipitation.
keywords in English:
climatic snowline, temperature-precipitation ELA, Little Ice Age, Tatra Mts.
affiliation:
Wydział Biologii i Nauk o Ziemi : Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej, Wydział Biologii i Nauk o Ziemi : Instytut Nauk Geologicznych
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