The initiation of mass balance studies in the Argentinean side of Monte Tronador

RUIZ, LUCAS; PITTE, P.; MASIOKAS, M.H.

Uspallata

Workshop; IAI CRN 2047B. Documenting Understanding and projecting changes in the hydrological cycle in the American Cordillera; 2013

IAI, IANIGLA-CONICET

Monte Tronador (41° 9´38.67"S, 71°53´6.52"W, 3491 m) is an extinct volcano straddled by the Chile-Argentinean border at the core of the wet Patagonian Andes. The four major glaciers on the Argentinean side are (north to south): Glaciar Frías, Glaciar Alerce, Glaciar Castaño Overa and Glaciar Manso (or Ventisquero Negro). Here we present preliminary results of the first field season in the area intended to conduct mass balance measurements on these four glaciers. These activities are part of the National Glacier Inventory program in Argentina conducted by IANIGLA in collaboration with other national and international agencies. The Monte Tronador glaciers are among the most studied glaciers in North Patagonia including the reconstructions of glacier fluctuations over the past 400 years. However, no mass balance or surface glacier velocity studies have been conducted for these glaciers. The lack of information on climate-glacier relationships and glacier dynamics hampers the evaluation of the climate history behind the reconstructions of glacier fluctuations and, perhaps more importantly, the development of scenarios of the future evolution of these glaciers. Here we discuss the strategy followed during the first mass balance measurements at this site, introducing new approaches to classical glaciological methods. The mass balance results will be used to calibrate surface energy balance models.