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Definition:
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The component of runoff (in sense 2) produced by melting of glacier ice, firn or snow that is removed in surface, englacial or subglacial flows. Meltwater runoff is not the same as surface ablation by melting, because surface meltwater may refreeze in the glacier (see refreezing, internal accumulation), and part of the meltwater runoff may originate from basal ablation or internal ablation. Nor is it usually the same as the total runoff, which is likely to include contributions from unglacierized parts of the drainage basin, and may include a contribution from rainfall on the glacier.
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