The Retreat of Mountain Glaciers since the Little Ice Age: A Spatially Explicit Database

Most of the world’s mountain glaciers have been retreating for more than a century in response to climate change. Glacier retreat is evident on all continents, and the rate of retreat has accelerated during recent decades. Accurate, spatially explicit information on the position of glacier margins over time is useful for analyzing patterns of glacier retreat and measuring reductions in glacier surface area. This information is also essential for evaluating how mountain ecosystems are evolving due to climate warming and the attendant glacier retreat. Here, we present a non-comprehensive spatially explicit dataset showing multiple positions of glacier fronts since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maxima, including many data from the pre-satellite era. The dataset is based on multiple historical archival records including topographical maps; repeated photographs, paintings, and aerial or satellite images with a supplement of geochronology; and own field data. We provide ESRI shapefiles showing 728 past positions of 94 glacier fronts from all continents, except Antarctica, covering the period between the Little Ice Age maxima and the present. On average, the time series span the past 190 years. From 2 to 46 past positions per glacier are depicted (on average: 7.8).

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Drastic glacier retreat at Pico de Orizaba (19º N, Mexico) since the Little Ice Age

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10863 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jesús Alcalá Reygosa ◽

Néstor Campos ◽

Melaine Le Roy ◽

Bijeesh Kozhikkodan Veettil ◽

Adam Emmer

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Satellite Images ◽

Physical Geography ◽

Glacier Retreat ◽

Ice Age ◽

Glacier Area ◽

Tropical Andes ◽

Bolivian Andes ◽

The Alps

The Little Ice Age (LIA) occurred between CE 1250 and 1850 and is considered a period of moderate cold conditions, especially recorded in the northern hemisphere. Numerous recent studies provide robust evidence of glacier advances worldwide during the LIA and a dramatic retreat since then. These studies combined investigation of moraine records, paintings, topographical and glaciological measurements as well as multitemporal aerial and terrestrial photographs and satellite images. For instance, post-LIA glaciers retreat amounts ~60 % in the Alps (Paul et al., 2020), ~88 % in the Pyrenees (Rico et al., 2016) and 89 % in the Bolivian Andes (Ram&#237;rez et al., 2001). However, there is scarce knowledge in Mexico about the glacier changes since the LIA. The reconstructions are limited to the Iztacc&#237;hualt volcano where Schneider et al. (2008) established a glacier retreat of 95 %.Here, we reconstruct the glacier evolution since the LIA to CE 2015 of the Mexican highest ice-capped volcano: Pico de Orizaba (19&#176; 01&#180; N, 97&#176; 16&#180;W, 5,675 m a.s.l.). Due to Pico de Orizaba is in the outer Tropic, the most plausible scenario is a glacier evolution similar to the Bolivian Andes and especially to the Iztacc&#237;hualt volcano. To carry out this research, we mapped the glacier area during the LIA, based on moraine record, and the area during 1945, 1958, 1971, 1988, 1994, 2003 and 2015 using a previous map elaborated by Palacios and V&#225;zquez-Selem (1996), aerial orthophotographs and satellite images. The geographical mapping and the calculus of area, minimum altitude and volume of the glacier were generated with the software ArcGIS 10.2.2. The results show that glacier area retreated 92% between the LIA (8.8 km2) and 2015 (0.67 km2), being a drastic glacier loss in agreement with the Bolivian Andes and Iztacc&#237;hualt. Therefore, mexican glaciers have experienced the major shrunk since LIA that implies a highly sensitive reaction to global warming.This research was supported by the Project UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT grant IA105318.ReferencesPalacios, D., V&#225;zquez-Selem, L. 1996. Geomorphic effects of the retreat of Jamapa glacier, Pico de Orizaba volcano (Mexico). Geografiska Annaler, Series A, Physical Geography 78, 19-34.Paul F., Rastner P., Azzoni R.S., Diolaiuti G., Fugazza D., Le Bris R., Nemec J., Rabatel A., Ramusovic M., Schwaizer G., and Smiraglia C. 2020. Glacier shrinkage in the Alps continues unabated as revealed by a new glacier inventory from Sentinel-2 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2019-213.Ram&#237;rez, E., Francou, B., Ribstein, P., Descloitres, M., Gu&#233;rin, R., Mendoza, J., Gallaire, R., Pouyaud, B., Jordan, E. 2001. Small glaciers disappearing in the tropical Andes: a case study in Bolivia: Glaciar Chacaltaya (16&#176; S). Journal of Glaciology 47 (157), 187-194.Rico I., Izagirre E., Serrano E., L&#243;pez-Moreno J.I., 2016. Current glacier area in the Pyrenees&#160;: an updated assessment 2016. Pirineos 172, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/Pirineos.2017.172004.Schneider, D., Delgado-Granados, H., Huggel, C., K&#228;&#228;b, A. 2008. Assessing lahars from ice-capped volcanoes using ASTER satellite data, the SRTM DTM and two different flow models: case study on Iztacc&#237;huatl (Central Mexico). Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 8, 559-571.&#160;&#160;

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The case of a southern European glacier which survived Roman and medieval warm periods but is disappearing under recent warming

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-15-1157-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 1157-1172

Author(s):

Ana Moreno ◽

Miguel Bartolomé ◽

Juan Ignacio López-Moreno ◽

Jorge Pey ◽

Juan Pablo Corella ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽

Climate Anomaly ◽

Apparent Absence ◽

Mountain Ranges ◽

Mountain Glaciers ◽

The Past ◽

Recent Warming ◽

Industrial Age

Abstract. Mountain glaciers have generally experienced an accelerated retreat over the last 3 decades as a rapid response to current global warming. However, the response to previous warm periods in the Holocene is not well-described for glaciers of the southern Europe mountain ranges, such as the Pyrenees. The situation during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900–1300 CE) is particularly relevant since it is not certain whether the southern European glaciers just experienced significant ice loss or whether they actually disappeared. We present here the first chronological study of a glacier located in the Central Pyrenees (NE Spain), Monte Perdido Glacier (MPG), carried out by different radiochronological techniques and a comparison with geochemical proxies from neighbouring palaeoclimate records. The chronological model evidences that the glacier persisted during the Roman period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The apparent absence of ice in the past ∼ 600 years suggests that any ice accumulated during the Little Ice Age has since ablated. This interpretation is supported by measured concentrations of anthropogenic metals, including Zn, Se, Cd, Hg and Pb, which have concentrations well below those typical of industrial-age ice measured at other glaciers in Europe. This study strengthens the general understanding that warming of the past few decades has been exceptional for the past 2 millennia.

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Little Ice Age advance of Kvískerjajöklar, Öræfajökull, Iceland. A contribution to the assessment of glacier variations in Iceland since the late 18th century

JOKULL ◽

10.33799/jokull2020.70.073 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 70 ◽

pp. 73-85

Author(s):

Snaevarr Gudmundsson ◽

Helgi Bjornsson

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

18Th Century ◽

Ice Age ◽

Landsat Images ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

Glacier Surface ◽

Contour Maps ◽

Late 18Th Century ◽

Lidar Dem ◽

Topographical Maps

We describe the changes of the Kvískerjajöklar outlet glaciers in SE Iceland (presently ranging 600–1600 m a.s.l.), from their Little Ice Age maximum (LIAmax) to the present. We assume that glacier extent of the late 19th century approximately describes LIAmax although the glaciers already reached their peak extent in the 18th century. The former glacier margins were delineated from moraines, historical descriptions, topographical maps, aerial and oblique photographs, Landsat images and a lidar DEM. Along the previous glacier margins, elevation differences with respect to the lidar DEM of 2011 were estimated and contour maps of the glacier drawn at selected dates, maintaining the shape of the glacier surface as available maps. During the period 1890 to 2011, the outlets lost -0.4 m a-1 water equivalent evenly distributed over their surface and their area was reduced by 37% (from 10 km2 to 6.4 km2, 0.03 km2 a-1, 0.43 km3 water equivalent in total, i.e. 0.003 km3 w.e. a-1).

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Glacier changes since the Little Ice Age maximum in the western Qilian Shan, northwest China, and consequences of glacier runoff for water supply

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756503781830926 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 49 (164) ◽

pp. 117-124 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

Liu Shiyin ◽

Sun Wenxin ◽

Shen Yongping ◽

Li Gang

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Image Data ◽

Northwest China ◽

Ice Age ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽

North West ◽

Glacier Changes ◽

Glacier Runoff ◽

Topographical Maps

AbstractBased on aerial photographs, topographical maps and the Landsat-5 image data, we have analyzed fluctuations of glaciers in the western Qilian Shan, north-west China, from the Little Ice Age (LIA) to 1990. The areas and volumes of glaciers in the whole considered region decreased 15% and 18%, respectively, from the LIA maximum to 1956. This trend of glacier shrinkage continued and accelerated between 1956 and 1990. These latest decreases in area and volume were about 10% in 34 years. The recent shrinkage may be due either to a combination of higher temperatures and lower precipitation during the period 1956–66, or to continuous warming in the high glacierized mountains from 1956 to 1990. As a consequence, glacier runoff from ice wastage between 1956 and 1990 has increased river runoff by 6.2 km3 in the four river basins under consideration. Besides, the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) rise estimated from the mean terminus retreat of small glaciers <1 km long is 46 m, which corresponds to a 0.3°C increase of mean temperatures in warm seasons from the LIA to the 1950s.

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Glacier fluctuations during the past millennium in Garibaldi Provincial Park, southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e07-019 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 44 (9) ◽

pp. 1215-1233 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Johannes Koch ◽

John J Clague ◽

Gerald D Osborn

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Southern Coast ◽

Coast Mountains ◽

The Past ◽

Glacier Fluctuations ◽

Garibaldi Provincial Park ◽

Provincial Park ◽

Past Millennium

The Little Ice Age glacier history in Garibaldi Provincial Park (southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia) was reconstructed using geomorphic mapping, radiocarbon ages on fossil wood in glacier forefields, dendrochronology, and lichenometry. The Little Ice Age began in the 11th century. Glaciers reached their first maximum of the past millennium in the 12th century. They were only slightly more extensive than today in the 13th century, but advanced at least twice in the 14th and 15th centuries to near their maximum Little Ice Age positions. Glaciers probably fluctuated around these advanced positions from the 15th century to the beginning of the 18th century. They achieved their greatest extent between A.D. 1690 and 1720. Moraines were deposited at positions beyond present-day ice limits throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Glacier fluctuations appear to be synchronous throughout Garibaldi Park. This chronology agrees well with similar records from other mountain ranges and with reconstructed Northern Hemisphere temperature series, indicating global forcing of glacier fluctuations in the past millennium. It also corresponds with sunspot minima, indicating that solar irradiance plays an important role in late Holocene climate change.

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Estimating the longevity of glaciers in the Xinjiang region of the Tian Shan through observations of glacier area change since the Little Ice Age using high-resolution imagery

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/jog.2020.24 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (257) ◽

pp. 471-484

Author(s):

Julia Liu ◽

Daniel E. Lawson ◽

Robert L. Hawley ◽

Jonathan Chipman ◽

Brian Tracy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Glacier Area ◽

Glacier Surface ◽

Relative Loss ◽

High Resolution Imagery ◽

High Resolution Satellite Imagery ◽

Kaidu River ◽

Tian Shan

AbstractGlacial retreat in response to warming climates in the arid Xinjiang region of northwestern China directly impacts downstream water resources available for local communities. We used high-resolution satellite imagery from 1969 to 2014 to delineate spatial changes in 54 active glaciers in the upper Kaidu River Basin in the Tian Shan as well as their past expanses during the Little Ice Age (LIA). We manually delineated their boundaries based on the interpretation of glacial, geomorphic and topographic features. From the total glacier surface area, we estimated glacier volume and mass. From 1969 to 2014, glacier area decreased by 10.1 ± 1.0 km2 (relative loss of 34.2 ± 3.5%) and mass by 1.025 ± 0.108 Gt (relative loss of 43 ± 4.6%). From the LIA maximum (est. 1586 CE) to 1969, relative losses were less (25.7 ± 4.3% area loss and 33.1 ± 5.7% mass loss). Our results indicate that glacier recession is accelerating over time and that the glaciers are currently losing over 1.5 times more relative area than elsewhere in the Tian Shan. Using linear and non-linear projections, we estimate that these glaciers may disappear between 2050 and 2150 CE if climatic warming continues at the same pace.

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Humidity variations spanning the ‘Little Ice Age’ from an upland lake in southwestern China

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683619883026 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 289-299

Author(s):

Tingwei Zhang ◽

Xiaoqiang Yang ◽

Qiong Chen ◽

Jaime L Toney ◽

Qixian Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Asian Monsoon ◽

Activity Index ◽

Ice Age ◽

Western China ◽

Southwestern China ◽

Sunspot Activity ◽

Precipitation Pattern ◽

The Past ◽

Westerly Jet

A number of archives that span the past ~2000 years suggest that recent variability in hydroclimatic conditions that are influenced by the Asian monsoon in China are unusual in the longer term context. However, the lack of high-resolution precipitation records over this period hampered our ability to characterize and constrain the forcing mechanism(s) of the recent humidity variations. Here, we present the ratio of hematite to goethite (Hm/Gt) derived from the semiquantitative evaluation of the diffuse reflectance spectroscopic analysis as a reliable and effective precipitation proxy to reconstruct the humidity variations during the past 1400 years deduced from Tengchongqinghai Lake sediments, southwestern China. Hm/Gt varied synchronously with variations of Chinese temperature reconstructed from the historical documents and sunspot activity index over the past 1400 years. Critical periodicities of ~450 and ~250 years show that solar activity is the dominant control on precipitation change on centennial scales. However, the relationship determined from Hm/Gt in this study contradicts the stalagmite δ18O interpretations from different regions of China, which exhibit a more complex precipitation pattern that is influenced by the strength of westerly jet in addition to the Asian monsoon. The increased westerly jet during the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA) caused a humid climate in southern China and dry conditions in northern and western China.

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Mountain glaciers of southeast Siberia: current state and changes since the Little Ice Age

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/2014aog66a135 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 55 (66) ◽

pp. 167-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

E.Yu. Osipov ◽

O.P. Osipova

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Snow Accumulation ◽

Ice Age ◽

High Mountain ◽

Late 20Th Century ◽

Glacier Inventory ◽

Mountain Glaciers ◽

Current State ◽

Field Investigations ◽

Glacier Changes

AbstractContemporary glaciers of southeast Siberia are located on three high-mountain ridges (east Sayan, Baikalsky and Kodar). In this study, we present an updated glacier inventory based on high- to middle-resolution satellite imagery and field investigations. The inventory includes 51 glaciers with a total area of - 15 km2. Areas of individual glaciers vary from 0.06 to 1.33 km2, lengths from 130 to 2010 m and elevations from 1796 to 3490 m. The recent ice maximum extents (Little Ice Age) have been delineated from terminal moraines. On average, debris-free surface area shrunk by 59% between 1850 and 2006/11 (0.37% a–1), by 44% between 1850 and 2001/02 (0.29% a–1) and by 27% between 2001/02 and 2006/11 (3.39% a–1). The Kodar glaciers have experienced the largest area shrinkage, while the area loss on Baikalsky ridge was more moderate. Glacier changes are mainly related to regional summer temperature increase (by 1.7-2.6C from 1970 to 2010). There are some differences in glacier response due to different spatial patterns of snow accumulation, local topography (e.g. glacier elevation, slope) and geological activity. The studied glaciers (especially of Kodar ridge) are the most sensitive in Siberia to climate change since the late 20th century.

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Little Ice Age fluctuations of Glaciar Río Manso in the North Patagonian Andes of Argentina

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/j.yqres.2009.08.004 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. 96-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

M.H. Masiokas ◽

B.H. Luckman ◽

R. Villalba ◽

A. Ripalta ◽

J. Rabassa

Keyword(s):

Little Ice Age ◽

Ice Age ◽

Lateral Moraine ◽

Early Nineteenth Century ◽

The Past ◽

The North ◽

Specific Factors ◽

Subfossil Wood ◽

Moraine Ridge ◽

Patagonian Andes

Little Ice Age (LIA) fluctuations of Glaciar R"o Manso, north Patagonian Andes, Argentina are studied using information from previous work and dendrogeomorphological analyses of living and subfossil wood. The most extensive LIA expansion occurred between the late 1700s and the 1830"1840s. Except for a massive older frontal moraine system apparently predating ca. 2240 14C yr BP and a small section of a south lateral moraine ridge that is at least 300 yr old, the early nineteenth century advance overrode surficial evidence of any earlier LIA glacier events. Over the past 150 yr the gently sloping, heavily debris-covered lower glacier tongue has thinned significantly, but several short periods of readvance or stasis have been identified and tree-ring dated to the mid-1870s, 1890s, 1900s, 1920s, 1950s, and the mid-1970s. Ice mass loss has increased in recent years due to calving into a rapidly growing proglacial lake. The neighboring debris-free and land-based Glaciar Fr"as has also retreated markedly in recent years but shows substantial differences in the timing of the peak LIA advance (early 1600s). This indicates that site-specific factors can have a significant impact on the resulting glacier records and should thus be considered carefully in the development and assessment of regional glacier chronologies.

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Cuban stalagmite suggests relationship between Caribbean precipitation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation during the past 1.3 ka

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683612449759 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 22 (12) ◽

pp. 1405-1412 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Claudia Fensterer ◽

Denis Scholz ◽

Dirk Hoffmann ◽

Christoph Spötl ◽

Jesús M Pajón ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North Atlantic ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Rainfall Intensity ◽

Thermohaline Circulation ◽

Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽

Ice Age ◽

The Past ◽

The North ◽

Southward Shift ◽

The North Atlantic

Here we present the first high-resolution δ18O record of a stalagmite from western Cuba. The record reflects precipitation variability in the northwestern Caribbean during the last 1.3 ka and exhibits a correlation to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). This suggests a relationship between Caribbean rainfall intensity and North Atlantic sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies. A potential mechanism for this relationship may be the strength of the Thermohaline Circulation (THC). For a weaker THC, lower SSTs in the North Atlantic possibly lead to a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and drier conditions in Cuba. Thus, this Cuban stalagmite records drier conditions during cold phases in the North Atlantic such as the ‘Little Ice Age’. This study contributes to the understanding of teleconnections between North Atlantic SSTs and northern Caribbean climate variability during the past 1.3 ka.

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