Retreat of Glaciar Tyndall, Patagonia, over the last half-century
Charles Ramond1, Thomas A. Neumann2, Eric Rignot3, Keith Echelmeyer4, Andrés Rivera5,6, Gino Casassa5
1Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington,Seattle, USA
2Department of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA
3Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, California, USA
4Univesity of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks,Alaska, USA
5Centro de Estudios Científicos de Valdivia, Valdivia, Chile
6Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Journal of Glaciology, (51) 173, (2005).
We report measurements of ice surface elevation, ice thickness and surface area for Glaciar Tyndall, Patagonia, made in 1999-2002. The measurements, together with previously published observations, show acceleration over the last few decades of the rates of thinning and retreat of the main calving front. The acceleration of shrinkage appears to be driven by a combination of climate and feedback processes, the dominant feedback being increased melting associated with lowering of the glacier surface (elevation feedback). The melting capacity in the main terminus lake is now too small to be a major factor accelerating the retreat. The glacier bed has low slope and remains below the elevation of the lake spillway for >14km upstream from the 2000 calving front, indicating the potential for extensive retreat under the influence of strong elevation feedback and increasing interaction with the lake as it enlarges.
