| We reanalyzed geodetic and glaciological surface mass balance records of Taku and Lemon Creek glaciers for the period 1946--2015 to determine what has driven the contradictory behavior of these glaciers. During the past century, Taku Glacier has been increasing in area and mass, while Lemon Creek Glacier has simultaneously shrunk in area and mass. Between 1948 and 1999 geodetic mass balance rates are +0.33+/-0.34 m w.e. a--1 for Taku Glacier and 0.61+/-0.34 m w.e. a--1 for Lemon Creek Glacier. Geodetic mass balance rates decreased to +0.01+/-0.23 m w.e. a--1 and --0.65 +/-0.23 m w.e. a--1 for Taku and Lemon Creek glaciers respectively, between 1999 and 2013. We updated the glaciological analysis of annual field data, and found no significant difference between updated and previous annual mass balance solutions (p--value < 0.001). We used the geodetic mass balance to calibrate annual glaciological estimates between 1946 and 2015, removing systematic biases of +0.06 m w.e. a--1 from the Taku Glacier record and --0.06 m w.e. a --1 from the Lemon Creek Glacier record. Comparing mass balance anomalies we determined inter--annual variability of surface mass balance is the same for Taku and Lemon Creek glaciers. However, differences in glacier specific hypsometry and mass balance profile drive systematic differences in both annual and long--term glacier mass balance rates. |
