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

Abstract

Although rock glaciers in the Central and Desert Andes of Argentina and Chile have been previously studied in detail, much less attention has been paid to the occurrence of these permafrost forms in Patagonia. Recently, however, the establishment of the Argentinean Glacier Inventory program, which intends to inventory and monitor all ice masses along the Argentinean Andes, has started a large amount of new geocryological research. The project is designed to provide reliable and worldwide comparable results, supported by well established technical procedures and background information.

Presented here is the first rock glacier inventory of the Monte San Lorenzo (Cerro Cochrane) region in the southern Patagonian Andes. A total of 130 intact (9.86 km²) and 47 fossil (1.45 km²) landforms were inventoried using two 2.5 m resolution ALOS Panchromatic Remote‐sensing Instruments for Stereo Mapping images.

Since the Argentinean federal initiative described above legally protects all rock glaciers in the country as water reserves, and due to the little scientific knowledge concerning rock glaciers in the vast majority of the Patagonian Andes, this inventory provides an important basis for political decision‐making and opens further geocryological research avenues for the Patagonian region in general.

Key words:

• rock glacier inventory
• Monte San Lorenzo
• Patagonian Andes
• ALOS

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica (grant PICT 2007‐0379). The authors thank Dr. Ricardo Villalba, Dr. Lucas Ruiz, Alberto Ripalta and Ernesto Corvalán for their field support. Special thanks also to Dr. Dario Trombotto, the Inventario Nacional de Glaciares initiative from IANIGLA, Leo Montenegro and crew from the Perito Moreno National Park, and Mario Sar from Estancia Los Ñires. The authors are very grateful to the reviewers for providing valuable suggestions that helped to significantly improve this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel Falaschi

Daniel Falaschi, Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), CCT‐CONICET Mendoza C.C. 330 – (5500) Mendoza, Argentina

Email: [email protected]

Takeo Tadono

Takeo Tadono, Earth Observation Research Center (EORC), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 2‐1‐1, Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8505, Japan