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Definition:
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(1) Discharge of water divided by the area of the drainage basin contributing water to the measurement cross section, expressed in specific units such as mm w. E. D-1 or kg m-2 s-1. (2) The flux of water leaving the glacier. Sense 2 is common in mass-balance studies, especially in studies of ice-sheet mass balance. See mass-balance units; it is useful to have one word for total flux and a different word for specific flux, so the distinction between discharge and runoff is to be encouraged. Runoff includes meltwater discharge but also water from other sources than melt, such as rainfall.
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