CRYOCONITE FORMATION ON THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD

Cryoconites have been studied in many glacial environments and a theory for the behavior of cylindrical cryoconites has been reported. This paper attempts to extend the term "cryoconite" to include all dark foreign material of any size which is deposited on snow, firn or ice while describing the behavior of this broad ensemble of cryoconites on the Juneau Icefield Alaska. A theoretical derivation is presented which unites the behavior of large rock tables, medium sized rocks on the surface, and small boring cylindrical cryoconites. A new potential field technique using cylindrical cryoconites on snow or firn is described which is a simple and immediate field method to calculate the daily average energy flux into the glacial surface. This field method could eliminate the need to use a data tower and computer solutions to find this energy flux. Equilibrium and non equilibrium behavior of cryoconites is discussed for all cases of cryoconite size and surface material describing important ablation relationships for the glacial surface. The concept that equilibrium cryoconites do not directly increase ablation of the surface is introduced. This new concept greatly complicates the assessment of the contribution of dark matter on the increased rate of glacial surface ablation.