Definition
Andean glaciers: All glaciers located in the Andes of South America.
Introduction
In all Andean countries of South America, the highest peaks are covered by glaciers. These can be subdivided into tropical glaciers, located in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and northernmost Chile, and extratropical glaciers, located in central and southern Chile and Argentina. The latter also include the northern and southern Patagionian ice fields ( Patagonia , qv). While most Andean glaciers outside of Patagonia are fairly small and contain a limited amount of ice, they are nonetheless very unique and important. The tropical Andes, for example, are home to more than 99% of all tropical glaciers (Kaser, 1999) and they provide very important environmental services, such as freshwater during the dry season to downstream populations. Andean glaciers are also unique with regard to their mass and energy balance and their sensitivity to climate change ( Climate Variability and High...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Bown, F., and Rivera, A., 2007. Climate changes and glacier responses during recent decades in the Chilean Lake District. Global and Planetary Change, 59, 79–86.
Bradley, R. S., Vuille, M., Diaz, H. F., and Vergara, W., 2006. Threats to water supplies in the tropical Andes. Science, 312, 1755–1756.
Casassa, G., Rivera, A., and Schwikowski, M., 2006. Glacier mass balance data for southern South America (30°S–56°S). In Knight, P. G. (ed.), Glacier Science and Environmental Change. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 239–241.
Francou, B., Vuille, M., Wagnon, P., Mendoza, J., and Sicart, J. E., 2003. Tropical climate change recorded by a glacier in the central Andes during the last decades of the 20th century: Chacaltaya, Bolivia, 16°S. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(D5), 4154.
Francou, B., Vuille, M., Favier, V., and Cáceres, B., 2004. New evidence for an ENSO impact on low latitude glaciers: Antizana 15, Andes of Ecuador, 0°28'S. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, D18106.
Juen, I., Kaser, G., and Georges, C., 2007. Modeling observed and future runoff from a glacierized tropical catchment (Cordillera Blanca, Perú). Global and Planetary Change, 59(1–4), 37–48.
Kaser, G., 1999. A review of the modern fluctuations of tropical glaciers. Global and Planetary Change, 22, 93–103.
Kaser, G., 2001. Glacier–climate interaction at low latitudes. Journal of Glaciology, 47(157), 195–204.
Kaser, G., Ames, A., and Zamora, M., 1990. Glacier fluctuations and climate in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Annals of Glaciology, 14, 136–140.
Lliboutry, L., 1998. Glaciers of Chile and Argentina. In Williams, R. S., and Ferrigno, J. G. (eds.), Satellite Image Atlas of the Glaciers of the World – South America. Washington: USGS Professional Paper 1386-I, pp. 109–206.
Mark, B. G., and Seltzer, G. O., 2003. Tropical glacier meltwater contribution to stream discharge: a case study in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Journal of Glaciology, 49(165), 271–281.
Rabatel, A., Machaca, A., Francou, B., and Jomelli, V., 2006. Glacier recession on Cerro Charquini (16°S), Bolivia since the maximum of the Little Ice Age (17th century). Journal of Glaciology, 52(176), 110–118.
Rivera, A., Acuña, C., and Casassa, G., 2006. Glacier variations in central Chile (32°S–41°S). In Knight, P. G. (ed.), Glacier Science and Environmental Change. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 246–247.
Urrutia, R., and Vuille, M., 2009. Climate change projections for the tropical Andes using a regional climate model: temperature and precipitation simulations for the end of the 21st century. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114, D02108.
Vuille, M., Bradley, R. S., Werner, M., and Keimig, F., 2003. 20th century climate change in the tropical Andes: observations and model results. Climatic Change, 59(1–2), 75–99.
Vuille, M., Francou, B., Wagnon, P., Juen, I., Kaser, G., Mark, B. G., and Bradley, R. S., 2008a. Climate change and tropical Andean glaciers: past, present and future. Earth Science Reviews, 89, 79–96.
Vuille, M., Kaser, G., and Juen, I., 2008b. Glacier mass balance variability in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru and its relationship with climate and the large-scale circulation. Global and Planetary Change, 62(1–2), 14–28.
Wagnon, P., Ribstein, P., Francou, B., and Sicart, J. E., 2001. Anomalous heat and mass budget of Glaciar Zongo, Bolivia, during the 1997–98 El Niño year. Journal of Glaciology, 47, 21–28.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Vuille, M. (2011). Andean Glaciers. In: Singh, V.P., Singh, P., Haritashya, U.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2642-2_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2642-2_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2641-5
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2642-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences