The glacial anticyclone theory examined in the light of recent meteorological data from Greenland—Part 2

Abstract

The frequent bad weather on the Greenland Ice Sheet is caused by cyclones which although they may be deflected along the coasts, can and do cross Greenland. Eismitte surface records are presented as evidence of an actual crossing. Cyclones along the east coast are as important as those on the west coast as a source of the ice sheet's alimentation. Further supporting evidence on the storminess of the Greenland interior is given by the records of three other expeditions. Despite the use of only a few summers of records, conclusions may be considered reliable since the records of several different expedition years are all in agreement with respect to the lack of fair weather.The existence of three distinct major domes on the ice sheet precludes, in itself, the single fixed anticyclone which Hobbs postulates. Radially outflowing winds do not in themselves signify the presence of an anticyclone. Hobbs' persistent confusion of the downslope, gravity‐caused flowing of cooled surface air with the general outward radiating winds of a high pressure center, the only anticyclone defined in meteorology, has been the basic misconception of his belabored theory. The “anticyclone” as defined by Hobbs was pointed out by Mills in 1926 as being entirely different from the meteorologists' concept of a high pressure area, and it seems time that the continued confusion of ideas be replaced by clear thinking.