Rock glaciers in central Patagonia

ABSTRACT

Active rock glaciers are ice and debris-cored landforms common in cold arid mountains. They have not been widely described in the Patagonian Andes of southern South America and here we provide the first rock glacier inventory for the Jeinimeni region to the east of the contemporary North Patagonian Icefield. Detailed analysis of available satellite imagery and fieldwork demonstrates the presence of 89 rock glaciers across the study region, covering a total of 14.18 km². Elevation is the primary control on rock glacier distribution with 89% existing between 1600 and 1900 m.a.s.l. Aspect also plays a significant role on rock glacier formation with 80% preferentially developed on southerly slopes receiving lower solar insolation.

KEYWORDS:

• Rock glacier
• inventory
• Patagonia
• permafrost
• solar radiation

Acknowledgements

A.H. acknowledges support from the Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, funded by the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence (grant 223259).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Heather Selley is undertaking a PhD research project at Leeds University using high resolution altimetry data to investigate the mass balance Greenland and Antarctica.

Stephan Harrison is at Exeter University and works on the impacts of climate change in mountain systems. He has worked for many years in Patagonia, and also in the tropical Andes and the Himalaya.

Neil Glasser is at Aberystwyth University and studies the evolution and behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets, mainly in Patagonia, the Himalayas and Antarctica.

Olaf Wündrich is a surveyor and mountain guide working in the mountains of Patagonia.

Daniel Colson is a remote sensing and GIS specialist.

Alun Hubbard is a glaciologist at Aberystwyth University and the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. His research is focuses on climate, ocean and ice sheet interactions in Polar and Alpine regions.

Additional information

Funding

A.H. acknowledges support from the Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, funded by the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence (Grant no 223259).