Rock glacier activity and distribution in the semi-arid Andes of Chile and Argentina detected from dInSAR

• Main Authors: Bodin, Xavier, Echelard, Thomas, Trombotto, David, Vivero, Sebastian, Pitte, Pierre
• Other Authors: Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales (PACTE), Sciences Po Grenoble - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble (IEPG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ), Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales Mendoza (CONICET-IANIGLA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Buenos Aires (CONICET)-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo Mendoza (UNCUYO), Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Aridas (CEAZA), International Permafrost Association
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://sde.hal.science/hal-01887963

International audience Rock glaciers in the semi-arid Central Andes ofChile and Argentina (approx. 28-34°S) are wide-spread elements of the high mountain landscape butthey still need to be studied more thoroughly. Thepresence and activity of this type of ice-rich and creep-ing permafrost has potential consequences for the hy-drological functioning of the watersheds as well asfor the stability of the debris slopes (Trombotto etal, 1997; 1999). Indeed, some cases of rock glacierdestabilization observed in this region (Iribarren, 2010;Bodin and Iribarren, 2012) suggest that the geomor-phological processes related to rock glacier dynamicsmay be changing because of warming conditions intothe ground (Trombotto& Borzotta, 2009). Neverthe-less, up to now, knowledge on rock glacier kinematicsin the Central Andes was restricted to a few sites(Apaloo et al., 2012; UGP-UC, 2011; Arenson et al.,2010) where study and monitoring efforts took placesince generally less than 10 years. On the other side,ongoing human activities in high altitude areas, likemining, are increasingly impacting rock glaciers (Bren-ning, 2008; Brenning and Azócar, 2010), which hasled to substantial efforts from public authorities toevaluate the cryospheric resources in their respectiveterritories. For that purpose, in both Chile and Ar-gentina, inventories of rock glaciers have recently beenreleased (UGP-UC, 2011; IANIGLA, 2010) based onaerial and satellite imagery. Morphological features in-dicatives of the presence of ice-rich permafrost, mainlyrock glaciers, have therefore been mapped. The assess-ment of the activity status of those landforms, whichis of crucial importance for further studying theirsensitivity to climate- and human-induced impacts,is generally done thanks to expert knowledge. Basedon visual interpretation of optical imagery, sometimescombined with in situ observations, this approachinduces subjectivity-related biases and a limited reli-ability of the analysis.To overcome those limitations, and under certainconditions (e.g. ...