Mountain permafrost in the Tropical Andes of Peru: the 0°C isotherm as a potential indicator

• Main Authors: León, Hairo, Medina, Katy, Loarte, Edwin, Azócar, Guillermo, Iribarren, Pablo, Huggel, Christian
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: US Permafrost Association (USPA) 2021
• Subjects: Institute of Geography; 910 Geography & travel; permafrost
• Online Access: https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/211618/; https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/211618/1/2021_Huggel_MountainPermafrost_Lenetal_2021_final.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-211618; https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483589.011

In the tropical Andes of Peru very little is known about the occurrence and extent of mountain permafrost. Only recently systematic studies have been carried out on the high elevation sites of the mountain ranges (cordilleras). In the framework of the first pioneering studies, and with the objective to improve the understanding of characteristics of mountain permafrost and rock glaciers, we analyze how mountain permafrost in the Peruvian Andes is correlated with the altitude of the 0°C isotherm (ZIA). Climate change has generated an increase in air temperature and in the ZIA in the past decades. These temperature changes could lead to impact the state of the mountain permafrost. In this research, we focus on two mountain regions: The Cordillera Central (CC) and the Cordillera Volcánica (CV), the first located in the central zone and the second in the south zone of Peru. The study used air temperature data from 20 weather stations (2002–2016) to calculate the mean annual air temperature (MAAT), interpolated using a multiple linear regression model (MLRM) and digital elevation model (MERIT DEM). Occurrence and extent of 46 intact rock glaciers (IRG) and the global model of permafrost (Permafrost Zonation Index) were used to validate the results. The MAAT of CC has a minimum value around -4.1°C (R2 = 0.8) and a ZIA average of ~5152 m a.s.l. None of the IRGs are located above the ZIA. The MAAT of CV has a minimum value around of -5.5°C (R2 = 0.8), a ZIA average of ~4861 m a.s.l., and 60% of the IRGs are located above of the ZIA. The results show a greater variation of the position of the ZIA in CC in comparison to CV, which could indicate a possible degradation of mountain permafrost in these mountain ranges.