Heterogeneous and rapid ice loss over the Patagonian Ice Fields revealed by CryoSat-2 swath radar altimetry

Six Decades (1958–2018) of Geodetic Glacier Mass Balance in Monte San Lorenzo, Patagonian Andes

“…A sustained trend of rapid glacier retreat and depletion has been observed in most mountain and cold regions around the Globe (Zemp et al, 2019) including the Patagonian Andes (Davies and Glasser, 2012;Paul and Mölg, 2014;Masiokas et al, 2015;Falaschi et al, 2017;Dussaillant et al, 2019). The large, temperate ice masses of Patagonia are particularly sensitive to climate change as they are close to the melting point (Schwikowski et al, 2013), and are in fact currently among the greatest contributors to sea-level rise (Marzeion et al, 2012;Gardner et al, 2013;Foresta et al, 2018). In addition to glacier mass losses owed to climate change, the presence of glacial lakes at glacier terminus is known to boost glacier area reduction and glacier thinning through calving (Basnett et al, 2013;Brun et al, 2019).…”

Ice Thickness and Bed Elevation of the Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefields

“…Together, they represent the largest ice mass in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica. Time series of surface elevation data from satellite radar altimetry and optical imagery have shown that all the glaciers, except for Glaciares Pio XI and Moreno, have thinned rapidly in the last 40 years, with a contribution to sea level rise of 0.042 ± 0.002 mm /year between 1968/year between and 1975/year between -2000/year between (Rignot et al, 2003, 0.067±0.004 mm/year during 2000-2012 (Willis et al, 2012), and 0.059 ± 0.005 mm/year during 2011-2017 (Foresta et al, 2018). Time series of surface elevation data from satellite radar altimetry and optical imagery have shown that all the glaciers, except for Glaciares Pio XI and Moreno, have thinned rapidly in the last 40 years, with a contribution to sea level rise of 0.042 ± 0.002 mm /year between 1968/year between and 1975/year between -2000/year between (Rignot et al, 2003, 0.067±0.004 mm/year during 2000-2012 (Willis et al, 2012), and 0.059 ± 0.005 mm/year during 2011-2017 (Foresta et al, 2018).…”

“…This region experiences exceptional precipitation levels of several meters per year on its western flank (Lenaerts et al, 2014) and hosts some of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, moving up to 10 km/year (Mouginot & Rignot, 2015). Time series of surface elevation data from satellite radar altimetry and optical imagery have shown that all the glaciers, except for Glaciares Pio XI and Moreno, have thinned rapidly in the last 40 years, with a contribution to sea level rise of 0.042 ± 0.002 mm/year between 1968and 1975(Rignot et al, 2003, 0.067±0.004 mm/year during 2000-2012 (Willis et al, 2012), and 0.059 ± 0.005 mm/year during 2011-2017 (Foresta et al, 2018). However, accurate observation of the icefield volume is lacking.…”

Revisiting extreme precipitation amounts over southern South America and implications for the Patagonian Icefields

“…The considerable uncertainty in precipitation amounts in Patagonia not only affects our current understanding of the local hydrological cycle, but also has profound impacts on studies concerned with fjord ecosystems (Landaeta et al, 2012), biological production in water columns (Aracena et al, 2011;Vargas et al, 2018), net primary production (Jobbágy et al, 2002), glacier mass balance Foresta et al, 2018;Lenaerts et al, 2014;Mernild et al, 2017;Schaefer et al, 2013Schaefer et al, , 2015Schwikowski et al, 2006;Shiraiwa et al, 2002;Willis et al, 2012) and its contribution to sea level rise (Malz et 20 al., 2018;Marzeion et al, 2012;Rignot et al, 2003). Reducing the plausible range of precipitation rates is a key step towards improved process understanding of such systems and offers new perspectives on future changes.…”