The foundations of the Patagonian icefields

• Published in: Communications earth & environment 2024-03, Vol.5 (1), p.142-10, Article 142
• Main Authors: Fürst, Johannes J., Farías-Barahona, David, Blindow, Norbert, Casassa, Gino, Gacitúa, Guisella, Koppes, Michèle, Lodolo, Emanuele, Millan, Romain, Minowa, Masahiro, Mouginot, Jérémie, Pȩtlicki, Michał, Rignot, Eric, Rivera, Andres, Skvarca, Pedro, Stuefer, Martin, Sugiyama, Shin, Uribe, José, Zamora, Rodrigo, Braun, Matthias H., Gillet-Chaulet, Fabien, Malz, Philipp, Meier, Wolfgang J.-H., Schaefer, Marius
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; Glaciers; Ice; Ice cover; Ice fields; Ice thickness; Remote sensing; Sciences of the Universe; Spatial distribution; Thickness measurement; Topography
• ISSN: 2662-4435; 2662-4435
• DOI: 10.1038/s43247-023-01193-7

The two vast Patagonian icefields are a global hotspot for ice-loss. However, not much is known about the total ice volume they store - let alone its spatial distribution. One reason is that the abundant record of direct thickness measurements has never been systematically exploited. Here, this record is combined with remotely-sensed information on past ice thickness mapped from glacier retreat. Both datasets are incorporated in a state-of-the-art, mass-conservation approach to produce a well-informed map of the basal topography beneath the icefields. Its major asset is the reliability increase of thicknesses values along the many marine- and lake-terminating glaciers. For these, frontal ice-discharge is notably lower than previously reported. This finding implies that direct climatic control was more influential for past ice loss. We redact a total volume for both icefields in 2000 of 5351 km 3 . Despite the wealth of observations used in this assessment, relative volume uncertainties remain elevated.