Glaciers act as natural reservoirs for snow, ice, and meltwater. On seasonal time scales, ice melt and temporary meltwater storage within a glacier lead to large amounts of late-summer discharge. In many alpine streams this is the sole source of baseflow in late summer and early fall, after the seasonal snowpack has melted away.
On decadal to centennial time scales, mountain glaciers advance and retreat over the landscape, giving long-term storage and release of water. The sections below describe the general character of glacier hydrology, and the ways in which glacier cover affects regional hydrology.
The glacier surface consists of seasonal snow, multiyear firn, and glacial ice. Most of the water in mountain glaciers is produced from melting at the glacier surface. On a glacier surface, meltwater channels carve into the ice and wind sinuously downslope, sometimes pouring off the front of the glacier and sometimes plunging into deep moulins and crevasses.
Read more about Glacier Hydrology – An Overview
Glaciers delay melting and runoff from seasonal snow until late in the summer. Within a glacierized catchment, they also supplement rainfall and seasonal snowmelt with meltwater from glacial ice. Within a given glacier, there can be year-to-year variations in meltwater storage and runoff.
Read more about Hydrology of Glacierized Basins
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Ross has extensive executive experience in Operations, Governance, Information Technology and Strategy at the board and senior management level including Mancal Corporation, Mancal Energy, Highridge Exploration and Atlantis Resources. He has worked in Oil and Gas, Coal, Commercial Real Estate, Portfolio Management, Recreation, Retail and Water and Wastewater Treatment. His experience is also geographically diverse having overseen operations in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he has been on the board of companies with operations in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Kazakhstan, and Russia. He has served on numerous Public, Private and Not for Profit Boards across a number of industries.
Ross has been active on several industry Boards and committees including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and The Schulich School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Engineering.
Brian is a seasoned Cleantech entrepreneur with a proven history of successfully bringing complex water technologies to the market. With over 25 years of experience, he has led various organizations to achieve significant milestones in the industry.
Having started as the founding CEO of the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (PPIC) and later taking the helm at the Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP), Brian’s entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in driving innovation and growth within the sector.
He is an active investor in the cleantech sector and has served on many boards including the Ontario Clean Water Agency.
Actively engaged in industry associations like AWWA, WEF, IWA, and ASCE, Brian enjoys collaborating with fellow professionals to promote advancements in the field.
Brian holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD in Physics from Queen’s University, which has provided him with a solid technical foundation. As a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, he brings valuable insights to corporate governance.