Modeling the retreat of the Aneto Glacier (Spanish Pyrenees) since the Little Ice Age, and its accelerated shrinkage over recent decades

Author:

Campos Néstor1ORCID,Alcalá-Reygosa Jesús2,Watson Scott C3,Kougkoulos Ioannis4,Quesada-Román Adolfo56,Grima Nelson7

Affiliation:

1. Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory (TeleAmb), Department of Geographical Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, Playa Ancha University, Valparaíso, Chile

2. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, México

3. COMET, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

4. Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL Research University, CNRS, LAMSADE, UMR 7243, Paris, France

5. Climate Change Impacts and Risks in the Anthropocene, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

6. Escuela de Geografía, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

7. Environmental Program, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

Abstract

The Aneto, located on the Maladeta Massif (Central Pyrenees), is the largest glacier of the Pyrenees. The glacier is 675 m long, occupies an area of 48.64 ha and has a maximum altitude of 3269 m. In this study, we present a detailed area, volume, ice thickness, and Equilibrium Line Altitude reconstruction of the glacier for different periods (LIA, 1957, 1983, 2000, 2006, 2015, and 2017) and analyze its retreat. To estimate the glacier extent during the LIA, the moraines were mapped by using photo interpretation techniques whereas for the recent stages digital satellite images and aerial photographs were used. Moreover, we estimated the topography of the glacier using a simple steady-state model that assumes a perfectly plastic ice rheology, which allowed reconstructing the theoretical ice profiles of the glacier. To reconstruct the ice surface, a digital elevation model was created and combined with the bedrock topography in order to obtain the ice thickness of each stage. The results of the study reveal a considerable retreat of the Aneto Glacier since the LIA. The length of the glacier has reduced from 1970 to 675 m from LIA to2017, and its tongue has retreated from 2385 to 3029 m a.s.l. Furthermore, the glaciated area has been reduced from 245 to 48.64 ha from LIA to 2017 and the ELA has risen from 2919 to 3139 m a.s.l. The data obtained indicates that in the LIA–2017 period the glacier volume has been reduced from 82.57 m × 106 m3 to 3.48 m × 106 m3 and the maximum ice thickness from 95 to 27m. We also reconstructed the climatic conditions, showing an increase in temperature of ~1.14°C from LIA to 2017. These data reveal a vast retreat of the glacier since the LIA, which has accelerated since the 1980’s and even more since the year 2000.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Paleontology,Earth-Surface Processes,Ecology,Archaeology,Global and Planetary Change

Reference102 articles.

1. Arenillas-Parra M, Cobos Campos G, Navarro Caravallo J (2008) Datos sobre la nieve y los glaciares en las cordilleras españolas. El programa ERHIN (1984-2008). Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino, 236 pp, Madrid.

2. The Loch Lomond Readvance on the Isle of Skye, Scotland: Glacier reconstruction and palaeoclimatic implications

3. Ice-volume changes of selected glaciers in the Swiss Alps since the end of the 19th century

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