Glacier recession on Cerro Charquini (16° S), Bolivia, since the maximum of the Little Ice Age (17th century)

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Rabatel, Antoine, Machaca, Abraham, Francou, Bernard, Jomelli, Vincent
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Glaciers et ressources en eau d'altitude - Indicateurs climatiques et environnementaux (GREATICE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Ela; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00375748; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00375748/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00375748/file/glacier-recession-on-cerro-charquini-16-s-bolivia-since-the-maximum-of-the-little-ice-age-17th-century.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828917

International audience Cerro Charquini, Bolivia (Cordillera Real, 5392 ma.s.l.) was selected as a site to reconstruct glacier recession since the maximum of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in the central Andes. Five glaciers, located on differently exposed slopes, present comprehensive and well-preserved morainic systems attributed to former centuries. The moraines were dated by lichenometry and show a consistent organization on the different slopes. The past geometry of the glaciers was reconstructed using ground topography and aerophotogrammetry. Lichenometric dating shows that the LIA maximum occurred in the second half of the 17th century, after which the glaciers have receded nearly continuously. Over the last decades of the 20th century (1983-97), recession rates increased by a factor of four. On the northern and western slopes, glaciers receded more than on the southern and eastern slopes (by 78% and 65% of their LIA maximum area, respectively). The mean equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) rose by about 160 m between the LIA maximum and 1997. Recession rates were analysed in terms of climatic signal, suggesting that glacier recession since the LIA maximum was mainly due to a change in precipitation and that the 19th century may have been drier. For the 20th century, a temperature rise of about 0.6°C appears to be the main cause of glacier recession. Recent climatic conditions from 1983 to 1997 correspond to a mass deficit of about 1.36 mw.e.a−1. If such conditions persist, the small glaciers below 5300 ma.s.l. in the Cordillera Real should disappear completely in the near future.