Glacier meltwater flow paths and storage in a geomorphologically complex glacial foreland: The case of the Tapado glacier, dry Andes of Chile (30°S)

Pourrier, Jonathan; Jourde, Hervé; Kinnard, Christophe; Gascoin, Simon; Monnier, Sébastien

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.08.023

Cited by 49 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(83 reference statements)

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“…This different climate sensitivity appears mainly related to the proportion of ice, debris and water (and associated hydrological network properties) in the ground and the thickness of the superficial debris layers (Figure 9). This is in accordance with previous studies, which illustrated the influence of these factors individually: climate sensitivity in icedebris associations decreases when the ice concentration reduces (Kääb et al, 1997), when the superficial debris layer thickness increases (Benn et al, 2003;Kirkbride and Deline, 2013), when the water content decreases (Schomacker and Kjaer, 2007) and when the water circulations are null or rare and diffuse (Pourrier et al, 2014). Finally, null to very slow movements were measured in the ice-free debris zones, illustrating the strong control of ice content on surface dynamics (Figure 6A).…”

Section: Surface Movements and Associated Processessupporting

confidence: 93%

“…The influence of water here is likewise supported by the marked seasonal variation of surface velocities, the recording of maximum horizontal velocities in early summer when the water production is very high and field observations and audition of water circulation. Hence, these sectors, where an efficient drainage network can be present (Pourrier et al, 2014), show rapid responses to climatic and hydraulic forcing during the melt season. Our results suggest the following annual behavior.…”

Section: Surface Movements and Associated Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This behavior contrasts, therefore, with the one observed in the upper glacier zones. Its origin is mainly related to the filtering and slow propagation of summer temperatures in the poorly conductive thick superficial debris layer , the limited ice concentration, and if water is present, its probable slow and diffuse circulation (Pourrier et al, 2014).…”

Section: Surface Movements and Associated Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Internal Structure and Current Evolution of Very Small Debris-Covered Glacier Systems Located in Alpine Permafrost Environments

Bosson

Lambiel

2016

Front. Earth Sci.

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This contribution explores the internal structure of very small debris-covered glacier systems located in permafrost environments and their current dynamical responses to short-term climatic variations. Three systems were investigated with electrical resistivity tomography and dGPS monitoring over a 3-year period. Five distinct sectors are highlighted in each system: firn and bare-ice glacier, debris-covered glacier, heavily debris-covered glacier of low activity, rock glacier and ice-free debris. Decimetric to metric movements, related to ice ablation, internal deformation and basal sliding affect the glacial zones, which are mainly active in summer. Conversely, surface lowering is close to zero (−0.04 m yr −1 ) in the rock glaciers. Here, a constant and slow internal deformation was observed (c. 0.2 m yr −1 ). Thus, these systems are affected by both direct and high magnitude responses and delayed and attenuated responses to climatic variations. This differential evolution appears mainly controlled by (1) the proportion of ice, debris and the presence of water in the ground, and (2) the thickness of the superficial debris layer.

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Section: Surface Movements and Associated Processessupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Surface Movements and Associated Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Surface Movements and Associated Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Internal Structure and Current Evolution of Very Small Debris-Covered Glacier Systems Located in Alpine Permafrost Environments

Bosson

Lambiel

2016

Front. Earth Sci.

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“…in the period 2010-2015 (Bosier et al, 2016), and in dry winters when snowpack accumulation at highelevation sites is small. Research by Gascoin et al (2011) and Pourrier et al (2014) on glaciers of the arid Andes has revealed the hydrological importance of glaciers to the north of the Tinguiririca Basin.…”

Section: Glacier Contribution To Basin Streamflowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing glacier melt contribution to streamflow at Universidad Glacier, central Andes of Chile

Bravo

Loriaux

Rivera

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Glacier melt is an important source of water for high Andean rivers in central Chile, especially in dry years, when it can be an important contributor to flows during late summer and autumn. However, few studies have quantified glacier melt contribution to streamflow in this region. To address this shortcoming, we present an analysis of meteorological conditions and ablation for Universidad Glacier, one of the largest valley glaciers in the central Andes of Chile at the head of the Tinguiririca River, for the 2009-2010 ablation season. We used meteorological measurements from two automatic weather stations installed on the glacier to drive a distributed temperature-index and runoff routing model. The temperature-index model was calibrated at the lower weather station site and showed good agreement with melt estimates from an ablation stake and sonic ranger, and with a physically based energy balance model. Total modelled glacier melt is compared with river flow measurements at three sites located between 0.5 and 50 km downstream. Universidad Glacier shows extremely high melt rates over the ablation season which may exceed 10 m water equivalent in the lower ablation area, representing between 10 and 13 % of the mean monthly streamflow at the outlet of the Tinguiririca River Basin between December 2009 and March 2010. This contribution rises to a monthly maximum of almost 20 % in March 2010, demonstrating the importance of glacier runoff to streamflow, particularly in dry years such as 2009-2010. The temperature-index approach benefits from the availability of on-glacier meteorological data, enabling the calculation of the local hourly variable lapse rate, and is suited to high melt regimes, but would not be easily applicable to glaciers further north in Chile where sublimation is more significant.

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“…For example, Azócar and Brenning (2010) estimated that the water equivalent of ice stored in rock glaciers in the Chilean Andes between 27°and 33°S is 2.37 km 3 with average thinning rates in the order of 0.6-0.7 mm yr À1 . In another study, using GPR observations in Tapado Glacier foreland, Pourrier et al (2014) showed that the internal structure of rock glaciers can be highly heterogeneous with the presence of massive ice lenses. In other regions of the world, it has been shown that despite the assumed insulation effect of the debris, debris-covered glaciers might lose as much mass as debris-free glaciers (Gardelle et al, , 2013Kääb et al, 2012), mainly because of their usually lower elevation (Fujita and Sakai, 2014;Ragettli et al, 2015), presence of ice cliffs Steiner et al, 2015) and supraglacial ponds (Sakai et al, 2000;Miles et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the hydrological response of debris‐free and debris‐covered glaciers to present climatic conditions in the semiarid Andes of central Chile

Ayala

Pellicciotti

MacDonell

et al. 2016

Hydrological Processes

106

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We apply the process-based, distributed TOPKAPI-ETH glacio-hydrological model to a glacierized catchment (19% glacierized) in the semiarid Andes of central Chile. The semiarid Andes provides vital freshwater resources to valleys in Chile and Argentina, but only few glacio-hydrological modelling studies have been conducted, and its dominant hydrological processes remain poorly understood. The catchment contains two debris-free glaciers reaching down to 3900m asl (Bello and Yeso glaciers) and one debris-covered avalanche-fed glacier reaching to 3200m asl (Piramide Glacier). Our main objective is to compare the mass balance and runoff contributions of both glacier types under current climatic conditions. We use a unique dataset of field measurements collected over two ablation seasons combined with the distributed TOPKAPI-ETH model that includes physically oriented parameterizations of snow and ice ablation, gravitational distribution of snow, snow albedo evolution and the ablation of debris-covered ice. Model outputs indicate that while the mass balance of Bello and Yeso glaciers is mostly explained by temperature gradients, the Piramide Glacier mass balance is governed by debris thickness and avalanches and has a clear nonlinear profile with elevation as a result. Despite the thermal insulation effect of the debris cover, the mass balance and contribution to runoff from debris-free and debris-covered glaciers are similar in magnitude, mainly because of elevation differences. However, runoff contributions are distinct in time and seasonality with ice melt starting approximately four weeks earlier from the debris-covered glacier, what is of relevance for water resources management. At the catchment scale, snowmelt is the dominant contributor to runoff during both years. However, during the driest year of our simulations, ice melt contributes 42 +/- 8% and 67 +/- 6% of the annual and summer runoff, respectively. Sensitivity analyses show that runoff is most sensitive to temperature and precipitation gradients, melt factors and debris cover thicknessBecas Chile scholarship program FONDECYT Initiation into Investigation 11130484 FONDECYT 1121184 Chilean Water Authority (Direccion General de Aguas, DGA

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Glacier meltwater flow paths and storage in a geomorphologically complex glacial foreland: The case of the Tapado glacier, dry Andes of Chile (30°S)

Cited by 49 publications

References 64 publications

Internal Structure and Current Evolution of Very Small Debris-Covered Glacier Systems Located in Alpine Permafrost Environments

Internal Structure and Current Evolution of Very Small Debris-Covered Glacier Systems Located in Alpine Permafrost Environments

Assessing glacier melt contribution to streamflow at Universidad Glacier, central Andes of Chile

Modelling the hydrological response of debris‐free and debris‐covered glaciers to present climatic conditions in the semiarid Andes of central Chile

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