Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2487-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2487-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 May 2024
Research article |
| 22 May 2024
| 22 May 2024
Hydrological response of Andean catchments to recent glacier mass loss
Alexis Caro
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Grenoble-INP, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE, UMR 5001), 38000 Grenoble, France
Thomas Condom
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Grenoble-INP, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE, UMR 5001), 38000 Grenoble, France
Antoine Rabatel
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Grenoble-INP, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE, UMR 5001), 38000 Grenoble, France
Nicolas Champollion
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Grenoble-INP, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE, UMR 5001), 38000 Grenoble, France
Nicolás García
Glaciología y Cambio Climático, Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECs), Valdivia, Chile
Freddy Saavedra
Departamento de Ciencias Geográficas, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Leopoldo Carvallo 270, Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
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This article presents detailed and comprehensive hydrological and meteorological datasets collected over the past two decades throughout the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. With four weather stations and six streamflow gauges ranging from 3738 to 4750 m above sea level, this network displays a vertical breadth of data and enables detailed research of atmospheric and hydrological processes in a tropical high mountain region.
Romina Llanos, Patricia Moreira-Turcq, Bruno Turcq, Raúl Espinoza Villar, Yizet Huaman, Thomas Condom, and Bram Willems
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Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Our results highlight a marked decrease of high carbon accumulation rates in Andean peatlands over the last decades due to the diminution in melt water inflow generated by the retreat of glaciers as a consequence of regional warming. These marked changes stress the high ecological sensitivity of these peatlands, endangering their outstanding role in the regional (and even global) C cycle as large C sinks that contribute to the mitigation of global climate change.
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Short summary
The glacier runoff changes are still unknown in most of the Andean catchments, thereby increasing uncertainties in estimating water availability, especially during the dry season. Here, we simulate glacier evolution and related glacier runoff changes across the Andes between 2000 and 2019. Our results indicate a glacier reduction in 93 % of the catchments, leading to a 12 % increase in glacier melt. These results can be downloaded and integrated with discharge measurements in each catchment.
The glacier runoff changes are still unknown in most of the Andean catchments, thereby...
