RECENT CHANGES AT THE NORTHWEST MARGIN OF THE BARNES ICE CAP, BAFFIN-ISLAND, NWT, CANADA

A climate change monitoring site has been established at the northwest margin of the Barnes Ice Cap, in the vicinity of the Lewis Glacier. T hree years of climatic data (1989 to 1992) and held observations, supp lemented by satellite imagery, provide the basis for updating previous studies of local change at the ice cap margin, including climatology and substrate colonization by lichens. Climatic data from the ice cap summit permit extrapolation of seasonal temperatures from the ice marg inal station as a basis for equilibrium line altitude estimates. Resul ts are discussed against the background of studies from the 1960s. Ret reat of the Lewis Glacier continues at about 25 m yr(-1), whereas othe r areas of the northwest margin are retreating by 10 to 30 m yr(-1). L ower regional summer temperatures over the past three decades have not significantly slowed the recession that has been underway in this sec tor of the ice cap for the past three centuries.