ABSTRACTThe change of mass balance/altitude profiles from years with positive to those with negative mean balance has been investigated for seven glaciers representing various climatic regions. It appears that for alpine glaciers the imbalance is nearly independent of altitude, in dry, continental regions the imbalance is largest near the equilibrium line, where albedo changes are most pronounced. Maritime glaciers owe their mass balance variations mainly to changes in the accumulation area and polar glaciers to the varying duration of ablation in their lowest parts.