Into the ocean, lakes, and rivers ..., glaciers in Patagonia are discharging ice, that accumulates as a result of huge amount of snow fall in the mountains.
Into the ocean, lakes, and rivers ..., glaciers in Patagonia are discharging ice, that accumulates as a result of huge amount of snow fall in the mountains.
The Southern and Northern Patagonia Icefield cover an area of 16,500
km² along the border of Chile and Argentina. Glaciers in this
area have been retreating since the 1940s, contributing substantially
to sea level rise. Ice mass loss from the icefields is controlled by
the changes of outlet glaciers draining into the ocean, lakes, and
rivers. Several such calving glaciers have been rapidly retreating and
thinning over the last decade. Such changes are not only due to
warming climate, but more influenced by glacier dynamics, i.e. calving
flux increase as a result of ice speed up.
Field campaign 2012/13
Publications
To investigate the role of ice dynamics in the rapid retreat of
calving glaciers, we have been working on the Southern Patagonia
Icefield since 2011. Our project includes satellite data analyses,
which aims to quantify glacier retreat, thinning, and ice speed up. We
also perform field activities on some of the outlet glaciers to better
understand the mechanism of the observed changes and to predict ice
mass loss in the future.
This project is lead by the Institute of Low Temperature Science,
Hokkaido University. We collaborate with Pedro Skvarca, Glaciology
Division of Instituto Antartico / Museo del Hielo SA in Argentina.
Project members are from Hokkaido University, Hiroshima Institute of
Technology, National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo. The project
is funded by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 23403006 and 26550001.
Field campaign 2013/14
Field campaign 2016
Field campaign 2017
Field campaign 2018
Field campaign 2020
Field campaign 2023
Field campaign 2024
Project members
Satellite images showing the Patagonia Icefield (left) and the field study are in the SPI.
- Hata, S., S. Sugiyama and K. Heki. 2022. Abrupt drainage of Lago
Greve, a large proglacial lake in Chilean Patagonia, observed by
satellite in 2020. Communications Earth &
Environment, 3, 190, doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00531-5
[open access]
- Sugiyama, S., Minowa, M., Fukamachi, Y., Hata, S., Yamamoto, Y.,
Sauter, T., Schneider, C., Schaefer, M. 2021. Subglacial discharge
controls seasonal variations in the thermal structure of a glacial
lake in Patagonia. Nature Communications, 12, 6301,
doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26578-0 [openaccess]
- Minowa, M., M. Schaefer, S. Sugiyama, D. Sakakibara, and
P. Skvarca. 2021. Frontal ablation and mass loss of the Patagonian
icefields. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 561,
116811, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116811
[open access]
- Hata, S. and S. Sugiyama. 2021. Changes in the ice-front position and surface elevation of Glaciar Pio XI, an advancing calving glacier in the Southern Patagonia Icefield, from 2000-2018. Frontiers
in Cryosphere Science, 8:576044, doi:10.3389/feart.2020.576044
[Open access]
- Sugiyama, S., Minowa, M., and Schaefer, M. 2019 Underwater ice terrace observed at the front of Glaciar Grey, a freshwater calving glacier in Patagonia. Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 2602-2609, doi:10.1029/2018GL081441.
[Open access]
- Minowa, M., E. A. Podolskiy, S. Sugiyama, D. Sakakibara, P. Skvarca. 2018. Glacier calving observed with time-lapse imagery and tsunami waves at Glaciar Perito Moreno, Patagonia. Journal of Glaciology, 64(245), 362-376
[Open access]
- Minowa, M., S. Sugiyama, D. Sakakibara, P. Skvarca. 2017. Seasonal
Variations in Ice-Front Position Controlled by Frontal Ablation at
Glaciar Perito Moreno, the Southern Patagonia Icefield. Frontiers
in Cryosphere Science, 5:1, doi: 10.3389/feart.2017.00001
[Open access]
- Sugiyama, S., M. Minowa, D. Sakakibara, P. Skvarca, T. Sawagaki,
Y. Ohashi, N. Naito and K. Chikita. 2016. Thermal structure of
proglacial lakes in Patagonia. Journal of Geophysical Research
Earth Surface, 121, doi:10.1002/2016JF004084.
[Open access]
- Minowa, M., S. Sugiyama, D. Sakakibara and
T. Sawagaki. 2015. Contrasting glacier variations of Glaciar Perito
Moreno and Glaciar Ameghino, Southern Patagonia Icefield. Annals of
Glaciology, 56(70), 26-32.
[PDF]
- Sakakibara, D. and S. Sugiyama. 2014. Ice-front variations and speed
changes of calving glaciers in the Southern Patagonia Icefield from
1984 to 2011. Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, 119,
doi:10.1002/2014JF003148.
[PDF]
- Sakakibara, D., S. Sugiyama, T. Sawagaki, S. Marinsek,
P. Skvarca. 2013. Rapid retreat, acceleration, and thinning of Glaciar
Upsala in the Southern Patagonia Icefield, initiated in
2008. Annals of Glaciology, 54(63), 131-138.
[PDF]
- Sugiyama, S., P. Skvarca, N. Naito, H. Enomoto, S. Tsutaki, K. Tone, S. Marinsek
and M. Aniya. 2011. Ice speed of a calving glacier modulated by small
fluctuations in basal water pressure. Nature Geoscience,
4, 597-600.
[PDF]