Search

Patagonia features the most extensive glaciers of the Southern Hemisphere, excluding Antarctica, and a vast inventory of glacial landforms, so it is thought to have played a key role in (paleo)glacier studies since the late 19th century. However, no systematic attempts to characterize the specific research trends and the scientific community focused on Patagonian cryosphere have been conducted so far. To fill this gap, we analyzed the metadata associated to 305 articles compiled from the Web of Science database following a bibliometric approach covering the period between 1976 and 2020. Our results point to an irregular but net increase on the number of contributions on Patagonian (paleo)glaciers. Mass balance analyses based on satellite data of present-day glaciers and the reconstruction of past glacier activity by dating glacial landforms formed during the Last Glacial Termination, were the most addressed topics during the analyzed period. Patagonian (paleo)glacier studies are mostly published in generic Earth Sciences publications, followed by Quaternary and glaciological journals. Most of the studies were led by scientists from the United Kingdom, followed by Chile, Argentina and United States. In terms of collaborations, these studies can be divided into two main clusters, one composed by researchers from United States, Chile and Argentina institutions, and another mostly composed by British researchers. So far, the most prolific authors are nearly equally distributed in nationality, yet gender inclusion and international collaborations are still caveats that must be solved. Even though our query on the Web of Science missed highly influential (so-called) grey literature, such as local scientific journals and technical reports, the reviewed scientific literature unambiguously indicates that Patagonia is a privileged location for (paleo)glaciers studies worldwide and that it will continue offering vast opportunities to tackle critical questions related to global cryosphere and past-to-present climate changes. • Patagonia is a privilege site for studying present and past glacier dynamics and the evolution of climate changes at hemispheric and global scale. • Glacier dynamics during the 20th century and and the Last Glacial Termination are the most common topics addressed in past decades in the WOS. • Patagonian (paleo)glacier studies has contributed to the development or improvement of diverse analytical techniques. • United Kingdom, United States, Chile and Argentina produced the largest number of WOS-listed papers on (paleo)glaciers in past decades. • The related scientific community is fairly heterogeneous. Although, inclusion and international collaboration issues still need to improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High glacial mountain environments around the world are important water reservoirs and are extremely sensitive to the effects of climate change. Considering that climate change affects snow accumulation and glacial melting, it is essential to understand the runoff generation and hydrological dynamics in these type of systems. Andean glaciers have shown a retreating and thinning pattern since the start of the 21st century. Regarding this, the stable isotopic composition of waters is useful to assess the contributions from different sources (i.e., glaciers, precipitation, and tributaries' inputs) to rivers. Several Patagonian mountain rivers have Andean glaciers in their headwaters, one of which is the Manso River. In this basin, over the last 30 years, the Ventisquero Negro Glacier (Manso Glacier's regenerated tongue) experienced a rapid thinning and recession that generated a proglacial lake, called Manso proglacial Lake. In this study, topographic effects upon the stable isotopic composition of river waters (δ2H and δ18O) are recognized, particularly, the altitude effect. The stable isotope composition of the Manso River varies downstream, evolving to a composition more enriched in heavy isotopes in the lower basin, likely due to altitude effects and the progressive evaporation that mainly occurs in the lakes' surfaces that the river crosses. Results show that glacial meltwater is the major water contributor in the upper basin during early fall. In the rest of the basin the stable isotopic composition of the Manso River is mainly controlled by the lakes' isotopic signatures and is highly influenced by two tributary rivers. The concordance between isotopic models and hydrological data demonstrates that stable isotopes constitute a valuable tool to quantify the contribution of different water sources. This has the potential to be particularly useful in areas where discharge data is unavailable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]