Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes
Around 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers are located in Peru, and they are melting rapidly in response to climate change. The glaciers of the data-sparse Southern Peruvian Andes, comprising the Cordilleras Vilcanota, Vilcabamba, and Urubamba, are a primary water source for thousands of people liv...
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crfrontiers:10.3389/feart.2022.863933 2024-09-09T19:44:42+00:00 Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes Taylor, Liam S. Quincey, Duncan J. Smith, Mark W. Potter, Emily R. Castro, Joshua Fyffe, Catriona L. 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.863933 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.863933/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Earth Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-6463 journal-article 2022 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.863933 2024-08-13T04:05:35Z Around 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers are located in Peru, and they are melting rapidly in response to climate change. The glaciers of the data-sparse Southern Peruvian Andes, comprising the Cordilleras Vilcanota, Vilcabamba, and Urubamba, are a primary water source for thousands of people living in the rural foothills, and support people throughout the wider Cusco region. Here, we calculate geodetic mass balance for the Cordillera Vilcanota (−0.48 ± 0.07 m w.e. yr −1 ) using the ASTER satellite archive and derive a total loss of 3.18 ± 0.44 Gt ice between 2000 and 2020. Glacierised area has shrunk rapidly since the 1970s (losses of 54, 56, and 64% for the Cordilleras Vilcanota, Vilcabamba, and Urubamba respectively) as a consequence of changing climatic patterns, with low-lying glaciers receding the most across all regions. We calculate a rise in the median elevation of glaciers ranging from 15.9 m per decade over the Quelccaya ice cap in the Cordillera Vilcanota, to 32.8 m per decade in the Cordillera Vilcabamba, over the period 1975 to 2020. This change implies an increased hazard potential as the mountain regions become destabilised, and will lead to increasing pressure on fresh water supply as meltwater streamflow decreases and river discharge becomes increasingly, and irreversibly, variable. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Earth Science 10 |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
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Around 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers are located in Peru, and they are melting rapidly in response to climate change. The glaciers of the data-sparse Southern Peruvian Andes, comprising the Cordilleras Vilcanota, Vilcabamba, and Urubamba, are a primary water source for thousands of people living in the rural foothills, and support people throughout the wider Cusco region. Here, we calculate geodetic mass balance for the Cordillera Vilcanota (−0.48 ± 0.07 m w.e. yr −1 ) using the ASTER satellite archive and derive a total loss of 3.18 ± 0.44 Gt ice between 2000 and 2020. Glacierised area has shrunk rapidly since the 1970s (losses of 54, 56, and 64% for the Cordilleras Vilcanota, Vilcabamba, and Urubamba respectively) as a consequence of changing climatic patterns, with low-lying glaciers receding the most across all regions. We calculate a rise in the median elevation of glaciers ranging from 15.9 m per decade over the Quelccaya ice cap in the Cordillera Vilcanota, to 32.8 m per decade in the Cordillera Vilcabamba, over the period 1975 to 2020. This change implies an increased hazard potential as the mountain regions become destabilised, and will lead to increasing pressure on fresh water supply as meltwater streamflow decreases and river discharge becomes increasingly, and irreversibly, variable. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Taylor, Liam S. Quincey, Duncan J. Smith, Mark W. Potter, Emily R. Castro, Joshua Fyffe, Catriona L. |
spellingShingle |
Taylor, Liam S. Quincey, Duncan J. Smith, Mark W. Potter, Emily R. Castro, Joshua Fyffe, Catriona L. Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes |
author_facet |
Taylor, Liam S. Quincey, Duncan J. Smith, Mark W. Potter, Emily R. Castro, Joshua Fyffe, Catriona L. |
author_sort |
Taylor, Liam S. |
title |
Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes |
title_short |
Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes |
title_full |
Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes |
title_fullStr |
Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multi-Decadal Glacier Area and Mass Balance Change in the Southern Peruvian Andes |
title_sort |
multi-decadal glacier area and mass balance change in the southern peruvian andes |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.863933 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.863933/full |
genre |
Ice cap |
genre_facet |
Ice cap |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-6463 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.863933 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1809914348329500672 |