Patagonian fields host 40 times more ice than the Alps

MADRID (EUROPA PRESS) -The two ice fields that extend in the Patagonian region of the Andes contain forty times more ice than all the glaciers in the European Alps.

Using state-of-the-art methods and the limited data available to date, a team led by Johannes Fürst from the FAU Institute of Geography (Friedrich Alexander Universitat) reached this conclusion after reestimating the volume of both ice fields at 5,351 kilometers. cubic in 2000.

The researchers have published their findings in Communications Earth & Environment.

The Patagonian ice fields definitely dwarf the European glaciers. This is clear just by looking at its enormous dimensions: the Northern Patagonian Ice Field alone is approximately 120 kilometers long and, in some places, between 50 and 70 kilometers wide.

The Southern Patagonian Ice Field is more than three times larger and extends over an area of ​​approximately 350 kilometers from north to south with an average width of 30 to 40 kilometers. The ice masses have an average thickness of more than 250 meters, making them approximately five times thicker than the glaciers of the European Alps.

Added to this is unusual and sometimes extreme weather. As in Central Europe, winds in these regions of South America often blow from west to east and transport moist air from the oceans inland. The decisive difference is in the Andes, which extend from north to south in South America, with altitudes ranging from less than 3 thousand meters in the south to 6 thousand meters in the tropical and subtropical regions, forcing the mass of humid air from the rising Pacific.

As the air cools, it is only able to retain less moisture and it begins to rain or snow, depending on the altitude and time of year.

The regions between the Pacific coast and the Andes usually have more than 3 thousand millimeters of precipitation per year. This means that for every square meter of land, 3 thousand liters of rain, snow or hail fall per year. In comparison, in cities such as Nuremberg and Munich rainfall is relatively low, approximately 550 and 930 liters respectively.

Thanks to its high rainfall, the sparsely populated area west of the Andes in southern Chile has a generally cool climate in which a lush rainforest grows. Rain falls from clouds high in the mountains and winds bring relatively dry air to areas east of the Andes. This has given rise to another sparsely populated area, with a bare steppe landscape stretching for hundreds of kilometres.

Both Patagonian ice fields are therefore located in a remote region of the world where much less climatic and geographic data is collected than in Central Europe, for example.

Furthermore, Argentina and Chile have long been in dispute over the exact position of the border and have reached a stalemate over the exact position of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, essentially declaring large expanses of the glacier a no-man’s-land area and making it extremely difficult to your access. Not only that, but it means that it is virtually impossible to take geographic measurements in situ.

A natural phenomenon also makes research in the area difficult. Precipitation increases with every meter the air rises on the western slopes of the Andes. Therefore, it snows in large quantities on the summits and on both Patagonian ice fields. “However, we do not know exactly how much precipitation falls there,” explains FAU researcher Johannes Fürst in a statement.

The large volumes of snow that fall at these high altitudes make the operation of a weather station in such a remote location unfeasible. Any weather station would be susceptible to damage due to the enormous amounts of snow falling in the region, and repairs would be extremely difficult and time-consuming.

No one can know for sure whether 10 thousand or even up to 30 thousand liters of precipitation per square meter fall there every year. “The maximum snowfall is supposed to be between 30 and 100 meters per year,” says Johannes Fürst. “Those are unimaginable amounts.”

Since glacier ice forms over time from these snow masses, precise figures would allow researchers to better understand the processes. One thing is certain: the enormous amounts of precipitation are a reliable and abundant source of replenishment of the ice sheet, and the ice that forms soon will also join the flow down the valley.

As a result, glaciers from the Patagonian ice fields flow extremely fast. While the ice of the European Alps rarely covers a distance of one hundred meters a year, most glaciers in the Patagonian ice fields move at greater speeds.