Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields
The Patagonian Icefields (Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefield) are the largest ice masses in the Andes Cordillera. Despite its importance, little is known about the main mechanisms that underpin the interaction between these ice masses and climate. Furthermore, the nature of large-scale climat...
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Copernicus Publications
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 https://doaj.org/article/46692426e29e4a5f83312e1c5e1b5036 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:46692426e29e4a5f83312e1c5e1b5036 2023-05-15T16:02:31+02:00 Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields T. Carrasco-Escaff M. Rojas R. D. Garreaud D. Bozkurt M. Schaefer 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 https://doaj.org/article/46692426e29e4a5f83312e1c5e1b5036 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/1127/2023/tc-17-1127-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/46692426e29e4a5f83312e1c5e1b5036 The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 1127-1149 (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 2023-03-12T01:33:32Z The Patagonian Icefields (Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefield) are the largest ice masses in the Andes Cordillera. Despite its importance, little is known about the main mechanisms that underpin the interaction between these ice masses and climate. Furthermore, the nature of large-scale climatic control over the surface mass variations of the Patagonian Icefields still remains unclear. The main aim of this study is to understand the present-day climatic control of the surface mass balance (SMB) of the Patagonian Icefields at interannual timescales, especially considering large-scale processes. We modeled the present-day (1980–2015) glacioclimatic surface conditions for the southern Andes Cordillera by statistically downscaling the output from a regional climate model (RegCMv4) from a 10 km spatial resolution to a 450 m resolution grid and then using the downscaled fields as input for a simplified SMB model. Series of spatially averaged modeled fields over the Patagonian Icefields were used to derive regression and correlation maps against fields of climate variables from the ERA-Interim reanalysis. Years of relatively high SMB are associated with the establishment of an anomalous low-pressure center near the Drake Passage, the Drake low, that induces an anomalous cyclonic circulation accompanied with enhanced westerlies impinging on the Patagonian Icefields, which in turn leads to increases in the precipitation and the accumulation over the icefields. Also, the Drake low is thermodynamically maintained by a core of cold air that tends to reduce the ablation. Years of relatively low SMB are associated with the opposite conditions. We found low dependence of the SMB on main atmospheric modes of variability (El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode), revealing a poor ability of the associated indices to reproduce the interannual variability of the SMB. Instead, this study highlights the Drake Passage as a key region that has the potential to influence the SMB variability of the Patagonian Icefields. Article in Journal/Newspaper Drake Passage The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Drake Passage The Cryosphere 17 3 1127 1149 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 T. Carrasco-Escaff M. Rojas R. D. Garreaud D. Bozkurt M. Schaefer Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The Patagonian Icefields (Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefield) are the largest ice masses in the Andes Cordillera. Despite its importance, little is known about the main mechanisms that underpin the interaction between these ice masses and climate. Furthermore, the nature of large-scale climatic control over the surface mass variations of the Patagonian Icefields still remains unclear. The main aim of this study is to understand the present-day climatic control of the surface mass balance (SMB) of the Patagonian Icefields at interannual timescales, especially considering large-scale processes. We modeled the present-day (1980–2015) glacioclimatic surface conditions for the southern Andes Cordillera by statistically downscaling the output from a regional climate model (RegCMv4) from a 10 km spatial resolution to a 450 m resolution grid and then using the downscaled fields as input for a simplified SMB model. Series of spatially averaged modeled fields over the Patagonian Icefields were used to derive regression and correlation maps against fields of climate variables from the ERA-Interim reanalysis. Years of relatively high SMB are associated with the establishment of an anomalous low-pressure center near the Drake Passage, the Drake low, that induces an anomalous cyclonic circulation accompanied with enhanced westerlies impinging on the Patagonian Icefields, which in turn leads to increases in the precipitation and the accumulation over the icefields. Also, the Drake low is thermodynamically maintained by a core of cold air that tends to reduce the ablation. Years of relatively low SMB are associated with the opposite conditions. We found low dependence of the SMB on main atmospheric modes of variability (El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode), revealing a poor ability of the associated indices to reproduce the interannual variability of the SMB. Instead, this study highlights the Drake Passage as a key region that has the potential to influence the SMB variability of the Patagonian Icefields. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
T. Carrasco-Escaff M. Rojas R. D. Garreaud D. Bozkurt M. Schaefer |
author_facet |
T. Carrasco-Escaff M. Rojas R. D. Garreaud D. Bozkurt M. Schaefer |
author_sort |
T. Carrasco-Escaff |
title |
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields |
title_short |
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields |
title_full |
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields |
title_fullStr |
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climatic control of the surface mass balance of the Patagonian Icefields |
title_sort |
climatic control of the surface mass balance of the patagonian icefields |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 https://doaj.org/article/46692426e29e4a5f83312e1c5e1b5036 |
geographic |
Drake Passage |
geographic_facet |
Drake Passage |
genre |
Drake Passage The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Drake Passage The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 1127-1149 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/1127/2023/tc-17-1127-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/46692426e29e4a5f83312e1c5e1b5036 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1127-2023 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
1127 |
op_container_end_page |
1149 |
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1766398175320473600 |