• DOI:10.1191/0959683605HL780RP
• Corpus ID: 129125563

‘Little Ice Age’ glacier fluctuations, Gran Campo Nevado, southernmost Chile

@article{Koch2005LittleIA,
  title={‘Little Ice Age’ glacier fluctuations, Gran Campo Nevado, southernmost Chile},
  author={Johannes Koch and Rolf Kilian},
  journal={The Holocene},
  year={2005},
  volume={15},
  pages={20 - 28}
}

• J. Koch, R. Kilian
• Published 1 January 2005
• Geology
• The Holocene

Moraine systems of Glaciar Lengua (unofficial name) and neighbouring glaciers of Gran Campo Nevado (53°S) in the southernmost Andes were mapped and dated by dendrochronological means. They were formed around AD 1628, 1872/1875, 1886, 1902, 1912 and 1941 with the advance in the 1870s being calendar dated. Recessional moraines within each moraine system correspond to brief standstills or minor readvances. A significantly older moraine could not be directly dated by dendrochronological methods as the forest on it was assumed to be second-generation or older. From soil-formation rates, it is assumed that this moraine was formed at some time between AD 1280 and 1460, a time in which many other glaciers in Patagonia formed moraines. Overall, fluctuations of Glaciar Lengua show a strong synchronicity to other glaciers in the Patagonian Andes between 41°S and 55°S. This study suggests that Glaciar Lengua and possibly all glaciers of Gran Campo Nevado reached their Holocene maximum during the‘Little Ice Age.’