Geomatic techniques applied to the dynamic study (2001–2019) of the Rock Glacier in the Veleta Cirque (Sierra Nevada, Spain)

During the Little Ice Age (LIA), Corral del Veleta (Sierra Nevada) housed a small glacier of which relict glacial ice and permafrost still remain under packets of ice blocks. Currently, it is considered the southernmost rock glacier in Europe. The analysis and results of monitoring carried out on th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Land
Main Authors: Sanjosé Blasco, José Juan de, Atkinson, Alan David James, Sánchez Fernández, Manuel, Gómez Ortiz, Antonio, Salvá Catireneu, Monserrat, Salvador Franch, Ferran
Other Authors: Universidad de Extremadura. Instituto Universitario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Territorial Sostenible (INTERRA), Universidad de Extremadura. Departamento de Expresión Gráfica, Universidad de Barcelona
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2022
Subjects:
Glaciar de roca
Técnicas geomáticas
Modelización de glaciares
Evolución de glaciares
Dinámica morfogénica
Rock glacier
Geomatic techniques
Glaciermodelling
Glacier evolution
Morphogenic dynamic
2502 Climatología
2505.07 Geografía Física
2508 Hidrología
Corral
Roca
Ice
permafrost
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10662/25088
https://doi.org/10.3390/land11050613
Description
Summary:During the Little Ice Age (LIA), Corral del Veleta (Sierra Nevada) housed a small glacier of which relict glacial ice and permafrost still remain under packets of ice blocks. Currently, it is considered the southernmost rock glacier in Europe. The analysis and results of monitoring carried out on this rock glacier reveal it to be in an accelerated process of immobilization and that the relict glacial ice blocks and permafrost on which it lies are in a continual process of degradation. The rock glacier was monitored from 2001 to 2019 using diverse geomatic techniques, to which geophysical and thermal techniques were added. The results obtained during the observation period shed light on the dynamic of the rock glacier (morpho-topographic movements and deformations) as well as the physical state of the underlying frozen bodies (volumetric reduction and spatial distribution). The changes observed are related to variations in the dominant high-mountain climate of Sierra Nevada, particularly since the end of the 20th century, the general tendencies of which are increasing temperatures, decreasing annual snowfall, and a shorter duration of snow on the ground. Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital de la Junta de Extremadura and European Regional Development Fund of the European Union through the reference grant GR21156. peerReviewed

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