Kinnard C., P. Ginot, A. Surazakov, S. MacDonnell, L. Nicholson, N. Patris, A. Rabatel, A. Rivera & F. Squeo (2020): “Mass Balance and Climate History of a High-Altitude Glacier, Desert Andes of Chile”. Front. Earth Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00040.

Resumen / Abstract.

Glaciers in the dry Chilean Andes provide important ecological services, yet their mass balance response to past and ongoing climate change has been little studied. This study examines the recent (2002–2015), historical (1955–2005), and past (<1900) mass balance history of the high-altitude Guanaco Glacier (29.34°S, >5000 m), using a combination of glaciological, geodetic, and ice core observations. Mass balance has been predominantly negative since 2002. Analysis of mass balance and meteorological data since 2002 suggests that mass balance is currently mostly sensitive to precipitation variations, while low temperatures, aridity and high solar radiation and wind speeds cause large sublimation losses and limited melting. Mass balance reconstructed by geodetic methods shows that Guanaco Glacier has been losing mass since at least 1955, and that mass loss has increased over time until  resent. An ice core recovered from the deepest part of the glacier in 2008 revealed that the glacier is cold-based with a -5,5°C basal temperature and a warm reversal of the temperature profile above 60-m depth attributed to the recent atmospheric warming trend.

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