A glacial lake outburst flood associated with recent mountain glacier retreat, Patagonian Andes

Stephan Harrison, Neil F. Glasser, Vanessa Winchester, Eleanor Haresign, Charles Warren, Krister N. Jansson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Geomorphological mapping, sedimentology, lichenometry and dendrochronology were used to assess the nature and timing of glacier recession, moraine development and catastrophic mass movements in a tributary of the Leones valley, east of the Hielo Patago´nico Norte, Chile. We show that during the ‘Little Ice Age’ Glaciar Calafate advanced downvalley to produce a terminal moraine. Recession of the glacier from this position occurred in the 1870s and produced a moraine dammed lake. In late 2000 a large rockfall into the lake breached the moraine and triggered a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) that entrained and subsequently deposited some 2 /106 m3 of material. We interpret this event as a delayed paraglacial response to the retreat of Glaciar Calafate during the twentieth century.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)611-620
Number of pages10
JournalHolocene
Volume16
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Keywords

  • glacier
  • Patagonia
  • mass movement
  • glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF)
  • 'Little Ice Age'
  • paraglacial

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