Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru
Glaciers in the tropical Andes of southern Peru have received limited attention compared to glaciers in other regions (both near and far), yet remain of vital importance to agriculture, fresh water, and hydropower supplies of downstream communities. Little is known about recent glacial-area changes...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 https://doaj.org/article/97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 2023-05-15T16:38:08+02:00 Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru M. N. Hanshaw B. Bookhagen 2014-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 https://doaj.org/article/97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/359/2014/tc-8-359-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 https://doaj.org/article/97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 The Cryosphere, Vol 8, Iss 2, Pp 359-376 (2014) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 2022-12-31T00:57:39Z Glaciers in the tropical Andes of southern Peru have received limited attention compared to glaciers in other regions (both near and far), yet remain of vital importance to agriculture, fresh water, and hydropower supplies of downstream communities. Little is known about recent glacial-area changes and how the glaciers in this region respond to climate changes, and, ultimately, how these changes will affect lake and water supplies. To remedy this, we have used 158 multi-spectral satellite images spanning almost 4 decades, from 1975 to 2012, to obtain glacial- and lake-area outlines for the understudied Cordillera Vilcanota region, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap. Additionally, we have estimated the snow-line altitude of the Quelccaya Ice Cap using spectral unmixing methods. We have made the following four key observations: first, since 1988 glacial areas throughout the Cordillera Vilcanota (1988 glacial area: 361 km 2 ) have been declining at a rate of 3.99 ± 1.15 km 2 yr −1 (22 year average, 1988–2010, with 95% confidence interval (CI), n = 8 images). Since 1980, the Quelccaya Ice Cap (1980 glacial area: 63.1 km 2 ) has been declining at a rate of 0.57 ± 0.10 km 2 yr −1 (30 year average, 1980–2010, with 95% CI, n = 14). Second, decline rates for individual glacierized regions have been accelerating during the past decade (2000–2010) as compared to the preceding decade (1988–1999) with an average increase from 37.5 to 42.3 × 10 −3 km 2 yr −1 km −2 (13%). Third, glaciers with lower median elevations are declining at higher rates than those with higher median elevations. Specifically, glaciers with median elevations around 5200 m a.s.l. are retreating to higher elevations at a rate of ~1 m yr −1 faster than glaciers with median elevations around 5400 m a.s.l. Fourth, as glacial regions have decreased, 77% of lakes connected to glacial watersheds have either remained stable or shown a roughly synchronous increase in lake area, while 42% of lakes not connected to glacial watersheds have declined in area (58% have ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 8 2 359 376 |
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 M. N. Hanshaw B. Bookhagen Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Glaciers in the tropical Andes of southern Peru have received limited attention compared to glaciers in other regions (both near and far), yet remain of vital importance to agriculture, fresh water, and hydropower supplies of downstream communities. Little is known about recent glacial-area changes and how the glaciers in this region respond to climate changes, and, ultimately, how these changes will affect lake and water supplies. To remedy this, we have used 158 multi-spectral satellite images spanning almost 4 decades, from 1975 to 2012, to obtain glacial- and lake-area outlines for the understudied Cordillera Vilcanota region, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap. Additionally, we have estimated the snow-line altitude of the Quelccaya Ice Cap using spectral unmixing methods. We have made the following four key observations: first, since 1988 glacial areas throughout the Cordillera Vilcanota (1988 glacial area: 361 km 2 ) have been declining at a rate of 3.99 ± 1.15 km 2 yr −1 (22 year average, 1988–2010, with 95% confidence interval (CI), n = 8 images). Since 1980, the Quelccaya Ice Cap (1980 glacial area: 63.1 km 2 ) has been declining at a rate of 0.57 ± 0.10 km 2 yr −1 (30 year average, 1980–2010, with 95% CI, n = 14). Second, decline rates for individual glacierized regions have been accelerating during the past decade (2000–2010) as compared to the preceding decade (1988–1999) with an average increase from 37.5 to 42.3 × 10 −3 km 2 yr −1 km −2 (13%). Third, glaciers with lower median elevations are declining at higher rates than those with higher median elevations. Specifically, glaciers with median elevations around 5200 m a.s.l. are retreating to higher elevations at a rate of ~1 m yr −1 faster than glaciers with median elevations around 5400 m a.s.l. Fourth, as glacial regions have decreased, 77% of lakes connected to glacial watersheds have either remained stable or shown a roughly synchronous increase in lake area, while 42% of lakes not connected to glacial watersheds have declined in area (58% have ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. N. Hanshaw B. Bookhagen |
author_facet |
M. N. Hanshaw B. Bookhagen |
author_sort |
M. N. Hanshaw |
title |
Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru |
title_short |
Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru |
title_full |
Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru |
title_fullStr |
Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru |
title_full_unstemmed |
Glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the Cordillera Vilcanota, including the Quelccaya Ice Cap, northern central Andes, Peru |
title_sort |
glacial areas, lake areas, and snow lines from 1975 to 2012: status of the cordillera vilcanota, including the quelccaya ice cap, northern central andes, peru |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 https://doaj.org/article/97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 |
genre |
Ice cap The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Ice cap The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 8, Iss 2, Pp 359-376 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/359/2014/tc-8-359-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 1994-0416 1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 https://doaj.org/article/97376f1eb6a24026800589cd0573ce78 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-359-2014 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
359 |
op_container_end_page |
376 |
_version_ |
1766028423232225280 |