Abstract
AbstractUsing an ensemble of close- and long-range remote sensing, lake bathymetry and regional meteorological data, we present a detailed assessment of the geometric changes of El Morado Glacier in the Central Andes of Chile and its adjacent proglacial lake between 1932 and 2019. Overall, the results revealed a period of marked glacier down wasting, with a mean geodetic glacier mass balance of −0.39 ± 0.15 m w.e.a−1observed for the entire glacier between 1955 and 2015 with an area loss of 40% between 1955 and 2019. We estimate an ice elevation change of −1.00 ± 0.17 m a−1for the glacier tongue between 1932 and 2019. The increase in the ice thinning rates and area loss during the last decade is coincident with the severe drought in this region (2010–present), which our minimal surface mass-balance model is able to reproduce. As a result of the glacier changes observed, the proglacial lake increased in area substantially between 1955 and 2019, with bathymetry data suggesting a water volume of 3.6 million m3in 2017. This study highlights the need for further monitoring of glacierised areas in the Central Andes. Such efforts would facilitate a better understanding of the downstream impacts of glacier downwasting.
Highlights
Due to their sensitivity to changes in air temperature and precipitation, glaciers have been recognised as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) (GCOS, 2016)
This study presents a detailed and long-term assessment of the response of El Morado Glacier and its adjacent proglacial lake
These analyses were achieved through the use of multi-temporal aerial/terrestrial photography, satellite imagery and Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) data, and the so-called minimal mass-balance model combined with direct and indirect climate data
Summary
Due to their sensitivity to changes in air temperature and precipitation, glaciers have been recognised as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) (GCOS, 2016). In the case of the Maipo River, which flows through the heavily populated capital city of Santiago in the Metropolitan Region in Chile (7 million inhabitants), glaciers have been identified as a key water resource when melt contributions from seasonal snow cover are exhausted (Peña and Nazarala, 1987; Mernild and others, 2015; Ayala and others, 2016). In the Central Andes of Chile, for example, the Echaurren Norte Glacier is the longest glacier mass-balance record (1975 to present) using the glaciological method (Escobar and others, 1995; Masiokas and other, 2016; Farías-Barahona and others, 2019, 2020).
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