International audienceLittle is known about the fluctuations of the Pyre-nean glaciers. In this study, we reconstructed the evolution of Ossoue Glacier (42 • 46 N, 0.45 km 2), which is located in the central Pyrenees, from the Little Ice Age (LIA) onwards. To do so, length, area, thickness, and mass changes in the glacier were generated from historical data sets, topo-graphical surveys, glaciological measurements (2001–2013), a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey (2006), and stereo-scopic satellite images (2013). The glacier has receded considerably since the end of the LIA, losing 40 % of its length and 60 % of its area

No abstract

Glacier mass balance evolution depends on snow accumulation and snow, firn and ice melt during the cold and warm seasons respectively and is thus considered a reliable indicator of climate fluctuations (Braithwaite & Hughes, 2020). The Little Ice Age (LIA, between the 14th and 19th centuries) represents the last global advance phase for the majority of mountain glaciers around the world (Solomina et al., 2016). Since then, the decline of glaciers has been almost continuous, only interrupted by short stabilization periods (Zemp et al., 2015). Several studies identify the 1980s as a "tipping point in global glacier evolution," followed by accelerated glacier shrinkage (Beniston et al., 2018;Huss & Hock, 2018).Very small glaciers (<0.5 km 2 ) predominate in number in the northern hemisphere mountain ranges at temperate latitudes, since more than 80% of glaciers in these mountains are beneath this area threshold . Shrinkage of very small glaciers occurred more rapidly by the late 20 th and early 21 st centuries than in earlier decades (Bahr & Radić, 2012;Parkes & Marzeion, 2018). This fast shrinkage is explained by their generally low accumulation area ratio, which is mainly driven by the observed global

No abstract

Abstract. Long-term climate records are rare at high elevations in Southern Europe. Here, we reconstructed the evolution of Ossoue Glacier (42°46' N, 0.45 km2), located in the Pyrenees (3404 m a.s.l.), since the Little Ice Age (LIA). Glacier length, area, thickness and mass changes indicators were generated from historical datasets, topographic surveys, glaciological measurements (2001–2013), a GPR survey (2006) and stereoscopic satellite images (2013). The glacier has receded considerably since the end of the LIA, losing 40 % of its length and 60% of its area. Three periods of marked ice depletion can be identified: 1850–1890, 1928–1950 and 1983–2013, as well as two periods of stabilization or slightly growth: 1905–1928 and 1950–1983; these agree with climatic datasets (air temperature, precipitation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation). In the early 2000s, the area of the glacier dropped below 50% of its area at the end of the LIA. Geodetic mass balance measurements over 1983–2013 indicated −30.1 ± 1.7 m w.e. (−1 m w.e. yr−1) whereas glaciological mass balance measurements show −17.36 ± 2.9 m w.e. (−1.45 m w.e. yr−1) over 2001–2013, resulting in a doubling of the ablation rate in the last decade. In 2013 the maximum ice thickness was 59 ± 10.3 m. Assuming that the current ablation rate stays constant, Ossoue Glacier will disappear midway through the 21st century.