Santa Cruz river basin’s glacier dynamic

fresh water of future

Authors

  • Andrés Lo Vecchio Repetto Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Departamento de Geografía, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo

Keywords:

Glaciers and society, Santa Cruz river basin, Historical glacial dynamics

Abstract

The largest glacier area in Argentina is located in the Santa Cruz River Basin (CRS), Southern Patagonian Andes. The CRS concentrates 35% of the entire national glacier cover (including the sub-Antarctic islands), and 52% if only the Andes are considered.
Its 3023 km2 are distributed in a thousand glaciers, although between seven of them accumulate ~80% of that area (Viedma, Upsala, Onelli, Spegazzini, Mayo, Ameghino, and Perito Moreno). These seven glaciers end in proglacial lakes, which stimulate processes of acceleration, fracture, and detachment of glacial ice (detachment glaciers). The thesis aims to determine the multiscale relationships between the dynamics of the detachment glaciers of the CRS, the natural triggering processes, and their impacts on the geographic space. To this end, the analysis of the last two decades is proposed through different satellite platforms and the thematic information available. In this work, the glaciological indicators analyzed are frontal position changes and supraglacial melting events. For synthesis purposes, the results show a cumulative retraction of 19 ± 0.3 km during the whole study period, although with
heterogeneous individual behaviors. Between 1985 and 2017 the Upsala glacier retreated 8287 ± 60 m, at the same time Moreno glacier advanced 101 ± 60 m. Spegazzini glacier is another glacier that sustained its position in that period, immediately south of Onelli glacier which retreated 3069 ± 60 m. The above suggests the multicausal of glacial dynamics and the inexistence of a single forcer. In terms of melting events (2001-2016), the extent occupied by these has a marked seasonality, frequent during the summer months even at high summits (>3000 m). During the warm period (October/April) more than 50% of the glacier area was melting (with maximums of 75% in the summer of 2013). In contrast, in the cold phase, they were drastically reduced and even absent in the months of June-July. In CRS, melt events began to increase from 2010, with a positive trend. The consequences of glacial dynamics have played a key role in the possibilities for the configuration of humanized spaces. These places are structured according to these dynamics, either because of exposure to glacial hazards or because they represent the main source of foreign exchange for the basin: glacier tourism.

Author Biography

Andrés Lo Vecchio Repetto, Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Departamento de Geografía, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo

Andrés Lo Vecchio Repetto, es Geógrafo profesional y Doctor en Geografía por la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Actualmente posee una beca postdoctoral de CONICET y es Profesor Asociado Efectivo de las de Filosofía y Letras (UNCuyo). Su actividad científica está mayormente orientada al estudio de la dinámica glaciar en los Andes Argentinos a través de la integración de técnicas geomáticas, todo ello traducido en más de 10 publicaciones científicas en revistas de relevancia internacional. Además, también está interesado en el desarrollo y aplicación de herramientas digitales en la enseñanza de la Geografía a través de la construcción de la primera Mesa Topográfica Digital de una Universidad Pública de la República Argentina y en el desarrollo de modelos de Realidad Aumentada de diversos escenarios naturales y humanizados.

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Published

20-12-2021

How to Cite

Lo Vecchio Repetto, A. . (2021). Santa Cruz river basin’s glacier dynamic: fresh water of future. Boletín De Estudios Geográficos, (116), 187–214. Retrieved from https://revistas.uncu.edu.ar/ojs/index.php/beg/article/view/5517

Issue

Section

Reseña de tesis de posgrado