Analyzing the oscillations of the Perito Moreno Glacier, using time-lapse image sequences

Lenzano, María Gabriela; Lannutti, Esteban; Toth, Charles K.; Lenzano, Luis; Vecchio, Andrés Lo; Falaschi, Daniel; Vich, Alberto Ismael Juan

doi:10.1016/j.coldregions.2017.11.015

Cited by 10 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…This region has become increasingly important due to its global sea level rise contribution (Rignot and others, 2003; Willis and others, 2012b; Gardner and others, 2013). Most of the ablation zones of the SPI glaciers are retreating with high thinning rates, resulting in lake/fjord expansions, the growth in the number of proglacial lakes, the increasing occurrence of glacial lake outburst floods, massive calving events and landslides in formerly ice-covered areas (Wilson and others, 2016, 2018; Harrison and others, 2018; Lenzano and others, 2018). These trends have been related to tropospheric warming (Rasmussen and others, 2007) and precipitation changes (Carrasco and others, 2008), although climate and ice melt models applied to the area have shown positive mass balances with an increasing trend between 1975 and 2011 (Schaefer and others, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent ice dynamics and mass balance of Jorge Montt Glacier, Southern Patagonia Icefield

et al. 2019

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The Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI) withdrawal in recent decades shows contrasting behaviours between adjacent basins. One of the basins with highest volumetric losses is located at northernmost SPI. We refer to Jorge Montt tidewater glacier (48° 30′S/73° 30′W, 445 km2 in 2018), which retreated 2.7 km between 2011 and 2018 and thinned at rates of up to 21 m a−1 over this period. Based on the retreat record, remote-sensing imagery, field data, a mass-balance model and a calving parameterisation, we attempted to differentiate climatic-induced changes (i.e. surface mass balance) and dynamic responses (i.e. calving fluxes). The surface mass balance reached −4.15 km3 w.e. a−1 between 2012 and 2017. When frontal ablation is included, the net mass balance is −17.79 km3 w.e. a−1. This represents a change of trend compared with modelling estimations of positive surface mass balance prior to 2010. This shift is attributed to higher ablation rates given that accumulation is known to have increased between 1980 and 2015. The available evidence, therefore, indicates that frontal ablation is the main factor, supported by observed rates at Jorge Montt as high as 3.81 km3 w.e. a−1 in 2015, with ice velocities peaking at 11 km a−1.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent ice dynamics and mass balance of Jorge Montt Glacier, Southern Patagonia Icefield

et al. 2019

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“…No significant advancing or retreats of the glacier fronts since the early twentieth century have been documented by the analysis of satellite-derived images 19,20 . The glacier advances between June and December, and retreats between December and April, with a seasonal variation in its position of ± 65 m 21 possibly due to frontal ablation (subaqueous melting), which is correlated with seasonal lake water temperature variations 12 . This leads to recurrent cycles of advance, closure, damming, flood, failure and subsequent retreat of the glacier front.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This leads to recurrent cycles of advance, closure, damming, flood, failure and subsequent retreat of the glacier front. It has registered numerous front advances at irregular intervals since the end of the nineteenth century, whereas over the past decade, it has shown short-term advances and retreats 21 .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Spectacular and powerful water cascades form after semi-periodical ice-dam ruptures 18 , the most recent one at the time of publication having occurred on December 28, 2018. Ice-dam formation is related to the annual advance of the front of the glacier, which reveals a seasonal oscillatory cycle, controlled by the interaction of the glacier front with Magallanes Península and Lago Argentino, creating a feedback mechanism of advance, close, open and retreat 21 .…”

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The submerged footprint of Perito Moreno glacier

Lodolo

Donda

Lozano

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Perito Moreno is the most famous calving glacier of the South Patagonia Icefield, the largest temperate glacier system of the Southern Hemisphere. Unlike most of the glaciers in the region that have strongly retreated in recent decades, the position of Perito Moreno glacier front remained relatively unchanged in the last century. However, earliest photographic documents show that, at the end of the nineteenth century, the front was ca. 800 m behind the current position. There is no reliable information about the positions of the Perito Moreno front in earlier times. Here we show evidence of two subaqueous moraine systems both in the Canal de Los Témpanos and in the Brazo Rico, the two arms of Lago Argentino along which Perito Moreno glacier has flowed over time. These moraines, identified for the first time in the Canal de Los Témpanos from bathymetric and high-resolution seismic profiles, mark the position of the largest glacier advance, tentatively correlated with the moraines of the “Herminita advance” identified and dated onland. We interpret these bedforms as the evidence of the most pronounced advance of Perito Moreno glacier during the mid-Holocene cooling event that characterized this sector of the Southern Hemisphere. This study highlights the importance of subaqueous glacial bedforms, representing decisive records of the glacial history and palaeoclimate, which could help unveiling the origin of the different behavior of glaciers like Perito Moreno that in a warming climate are relatively stable.

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“…The SPI is drained by several outlet glaciers, which calve on sea water and proglacial lakes, creating strong rivers that are significant for the development of human activities in arid environments (De Angelis, 2014; Smith and Evans, 2007). Pre-existing studies have shown that the SPI is changing dramatically (Aniya and Skvarca, 2012; Lenzano et al, 2014, 2018; Lo Vecchio et al, 2018; Minowa et al, 2017; Moragues et al, 2018; Mouginot and Rignot, 2015; Rivera et al, 2012; Sakakibara and Sugiyama, 2014; Skvarca et al, 2002, 2004; Stuefer et al, 2007; Sugiyama et al, 2011, 2016; Warren et al, 1995; among others). The SPI has a strong east–west precipitation gradient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

MODIS Image-derived ice surface temperature assessment in the Southern Patagonian Icefield

Vecchio

Lannutti

Lenzano

et al. 2019

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Ice surface temperature (IST) is one of the most relevant parameters when it comes to estimating the effects of climate change on glaciers. This study aims to estimate the IST for the Southern Patagonian Icefield (SPI) during the 2001–2016 period and, in so doing, to contribute to the assessment of the MOD11A1 product in this area. We evaluated IST performance by comparing it with that of automatic weather stations (AWSs). In addition, the glaciological significance of the results is presented through 1) IST trends, 2) annual IST anomalies, 3) IST behavior at different altitudes and orientations and 4) a comparison with Santa Cruz River flow records. The correlation coefficients obtained between the IST and AWSs ranged between 0.66 and 0.85. In addition, we report on the mean absolute differences between them, ranging between 0.6 ± 3.6°C and 9.4 ± 1.9°C. In this sense, we observed the lowest differences at the AWSs that were located in a homogeneous environment. Stated in glaciological terms: 1) only 1% of the pixels had a statically significant IST trend ( p-value ≤ 0.05): between 0.01 and 0.05°C/month; 2) we found that most of the IST anomalies ranged between –1 and 1°C throughout the period of this study; 3) the results suggest that the altimetric gradient was the most influential variable of the IST, mostly in north-oriented glaciers; and 4) the SPI IST showed an annual periodicity, which, in turn, shows a high correlation with the Santa Cruz River flow ( R = 0.86). This study is the first in estimating the SPI’s IST and contributes to enhance our knowledge of glacier dynamics and, therefore, the management of the water resource. Despite this, some MOD11 filtering is required in regions with high cloud cover frequency.

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Analyzing the oscillations of the Perito Moreno Glacier, using time-lapse image sequences

Cited by 10 publications

References 51 publications

Recent ice dynamics and mass balance of Jorge Montt Glacier, Southern Patagonia Icefield

Recent ice dynamics and mass balance of Jorge Montt Glacier, Southern Patagonia Icefield

The submerged footprint of Perito Moreno glacier

MODIS Image-derived ice surface temperature assessment in the Southern Patagonian Icefield

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