Study of Glacier Changes in the Mendoza, Argentina, from 1990 to 2020.

In Argentina's Mendoza River Basin (33° S), glaciers provide an essential supply of freshwater. They act as sensitive climate change indicators and are crucial for comprehending and evaluating changes in local and global climate. Based on Landsat remote sensing imagery from 1990 to 2020, this study aims to understand the distribution and changing patterns of glaciers in the Mendoza Basin and their influence on regional water supplies and ecosystems. It makes use of ratio threshold algorithms and manual interpretation to get glacier boundary data from seven different eras, using the Argentine National Glacier Inventory and the RGI glacier catalog. Furthermore, by integrating climate data from TerraClimate, the study examined the influence of regional climate change on glacier fluctuations and demonstrated the trajectory of climate change in this area during the study period. The findings show that: (1) The Mendoza Basin's glacier area was 134.09± 11.86 km² in 2020. The glacier area decreased considerably (p<0.01) between 1990 and 2020, totaling 86.87±21.30 km² (39.31±10.14%). The greatest rate of retreat was recorded between 2010 and 2020. (2) The majority of glaciers are more than 10 km², while the least common are less than 0.1 km². The biggest glaciers are melting the quickest. The majority of the glaciers are found on the southern slopes, with the northwest slopes having the fewest and the southeast and northeast slopes seeing the quickest rate of retreat. Their range of slopes is mostly 5° to 40°, with 50° to 55° being the quickest of retreat. With the greatest retreat rates below 4000 meters, the bulk are located at elevations between 4 200 and 5 400 meters. (3) The Mendoza region has seen a considerable increase in temperature since the late 1950s (p<0.001), with an average decadal rise in maximum and minimum temperatures of 0.53 °C and 0.29 °C, respectively. In the Mendoza Basin, glacier retreat is mostly caused by long-term increases in temperature; short-term factors include variations in precipitation. This research offers a guide for mitigating the effects of glacier fluctuations on the Mendoza Basin's water resource availability and geological calamities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]