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Abstract
The glaciation level (GL) over West Greenland rises inland with the surface highest over high ground and lowest over bays, large fiord systems, and lowlands. Superimposed on this pattern is a general decrease of the GL surface towards the north, although local deviations may override this poleward trend. Regional gradients of the surface usually vary from 5 to 15 m km−1. Regional depressions of the GL surface south of 72°N may be explained by the influence of moist maritime air masses channeled through topographic lows. A major depression in the GL surface over the northern Melville Bay (76°N) may be influenced by local high cyclonic activity during summer and autumn. Climatic controls on the GL surface are not easily resolved, but the relation between the GL surface form and the seasonal distribution of dominant air flow directions suggest summer, autumn, and early winter mass balance for the glaciers to be of major importance, at least south of 72°N.