Rock Glacier Inventory of the Valles Calchaquíes Region (~ 25°S), Salta, Argentina, Derived from ALOS Data

Abstract

Rock glaciers near the Andean mountains of central and northwestern Argentina provide an important supply of water for agriculture, but data on their number, size, geographic distribution and altitudinal range are poorly known. Here, we provide the first detailed rock glacier inventory of the Valles Calchaquíes region of Salta, Argentina, based on 2.5 m x 2.5 m resolution Advanced Land Observing Satellite PRISM (Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instruments for Stereo Mapping) satellite images. Rock glacier outlines were manually digitised and a total of 488 were identified, which cover a total area of c. 59 km 2 . The lower limits of intact and fossil rock glaciers are at c. 4300 m asl and 4100 m asl, respectively. Because rock glaciers are protected by law in Argentina, the inventory provides an important basis for political decision-making about water resources and for further periglacial and environmental studies in this region.

Rock glaciers in the patagonian andes: an inventory for the monte san lorenzo (cerro cochrane) massif, 47° s

“…The estimated rock glacier spatial density of 1.4% for the study area is lower than in other, drier Andean sites such as the Andes of Santiago and Mendoza (4%; Azócar and Brenning ), or the Valles Calchaquíes region (2.2%; Falaschi et al . ). This comparison may lead to the conclusion that rock glacier spatial density increases with decreasing precipitation, an assertion recently made by Boeckli et al .…”

“…2012; Falaschi et al . ), these landforms have received much less attention in the Patagonian Andes. The relatively smaller size and lower abundance of Patagonian rock glaciers compared with the rock glaciers in the Central Andes, and hence, their minor importance as freshwater suppliers, has resulted in a considerable lower amount of scientific efforts aiming to understand the interaction between climate and the cryosphere.…”

Occurrence, evolution and ice content of ice‐debris complexes in the Ak‐Shiirak, Central Tien Shan revealed by geophysical and remotely‐sensed investigations

“…The size of the ice‐debris complexes and rock glaciers is similar to those of the northern Tien Shan of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (Bolch and Gorbunov, ), but larger than those in the eastern Tien Shan (Wang et al, ). Ice‐debris complexes with similar sizes and characteristics are common in the Andes of central Chile and northern Argentina (Brenning, ; Falaschi et al, ; Monnier et al, ). Rock glaciers in the Alps (Frauenfelder et al ., ; Scotti et al, ) or the Rocky Mountains (Janke, ) are on average smaller in size.…”

“…Indeed, in Tien Shan several glaciers terminate into large moraine complexes which show geomorphological indicators of ice content, such as thermokarst-like depressions, ridges and furrows and a fresh, steep front which are typical characteristics of rock glaciers. Similar large complex ice-debris landforms are equally common in the dry Andes Falaschi et al, 2014;Monnier et al, 2014) but detailed investigations are still quite limited. Rock glaciers that interact with glaciers also exist in the European Alps although they are smaller in size (Kääb et al, 1997;Dusik et al, 2015;Bosson and Lambiel, 2016;Capt et al, 2016).…”

Rock glaciers in Daxue Shan, south-eastern Tibetan Plateau: an inventory, their distribution, and their environmental controls

“…This phase has included compilations of rock glacier inventories (e.g. Bolch and Marchenko, 2009;Cremonese et al, 2011;Bolch and Gorbunov, 2014;Falaschi et al, 2014;Colucci et al, 2016;Janke et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2017b;Jones et al, 2018a), mapping of their spatial distributions and their relations with environmental controls such as topography and climate (e.g. Chueca, 1992;Brazier et al, 1998;Brenning, 2005;Janke, 2007;Johnson et al, 2007;Kenner and Magnusson, 2017;Onaca et al, 2017;Jones et al, 2018b), estimations of the distribution of permafrost based on rock glaciers (e.g.…”