Response of a mid-latitude cirque glacier to climate over the last two decades: Mangaehuehu Glacier, Mt Ruapehu

Abstract

The recent loss of mountain glaciers in response to climate warming has been reported across a range of latitudes globally, but the processes involved are not always straightforward. In southern Pacific mid-latitudes, twentieth-century glacier fluctuations are thought to reflect the strength of westerly atmospheric circulation, which brings increased precipitation, leading to mass gains. We present a study of the response of Mangaehuehu Glacier, a cirque glacier on Mt Ruapehu, to climate over the last two decades. Glacier surface area fluctuated in size over this period, corresponding closely with mean end-of-summer snowlines in the Southern Alps. The key control on glacier extent appears to be ablation season temperature, itself controlled by regional atmospheric circulation, including El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), and to a lesser extent, Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.