No description available.

Die Gletscherschmelze in den südlichen Anden trägt maßgeblich zum Anstieg des Meeresspiegels der letzten Jahrzehnte bei und beeinflusst regional die saisonale Wasserverfügbarkeit. In jüngster Zeit wurde eine rapide Zunahme der Massenverluste insbesondere einzelner großer Auslassgletscher des Südlichen Patagonisches Eisfeldes beobachtet. Im Rahmen der Dissertation wurden die rezente Variabilität des Klimas und der klimatischen Massenbilanz für ausgewählte vergletscherte Gebiete in Patagonien und Feuerland untersucht. Die Verbesserung unseres Verständnisses über räumliche und zeitliche Muster der klimatischen Massenbilanz, ihrer atmosphärischen Antriebsfaktoren und ihres Einflusses auf das in jüngster Vergangenheit beobachtete individuelle Gletscherverhalten, sind weitere wichtige Ziele. Da die Klimavariabilität die Hauptursache für lokale Veränderungen in der Kryosphäre der südlichen Anden ist, wurden langjährige meteorologische Beobachtungen im Gebiet der Gran Campo Nevado-Eiskappe im südlichsten Patagonien im Hinblick auf räumliche und zeitliche Variabilität untersucht und der Einfluss mesoskaliger Wettermuster und Modi atmosphärischer Oszillationen auf die Ausprägung des Klimas analysiert. Darüber hinaus wurde die rezente Variabilität der klimatischen Massenbilanz für ausgewählte Gletscher in Südpatagonien und Feuerland durch die Implementierung des Energie- und Massenbilanzmodells COSIMA simuliert. Eine unterschiedliche Ausprägung der Oberflächenmassenbilanz und geodätischer Massenbilanz unterstreicht wie wichtig ein besseres Verständnis über die Prozesse der klimatischen Massenbilanz und Eisdynamik ist. Des Weiteren wurden Simulationen der klimatischen Massenbilanz eingesetzt, um eine ausgeglichene Massenbilanz für rezente und vergangene Ausdehnungen des Gletschers Schiaparelli abzuleiten. Ziel war es, eine modellgestützte Annäherung an die klimatischen Bedingungen während der Kleinen Eiszeit zu simulieren. / Glacier mass loss of the Southern Andes contributes largely to sea-level rise during recent decades and also affects the regional water availability. Despite the overall glacier retreat of most glaciers in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, a recent increase in mass loss of individual glaciers has been observed. The recent variability of climate and climatic mass balance for selected glaciated study sites in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego are investigated in this thesis. Improving our understanding on the spatial and temporal variations of climatic mass balance processes, its atmospheric drivers, and their impact on the recently observed individual glacier behavior are further important aims. Since climate variability is the key driver of local changes in the cryosphere in the Southern Andes, a unique record of meteorological observations across the Gran Campo Nevado Ice Cap in Southernmost Patagonia was analyzed with regard to main climate features and the relationship between the in-situ observations, large-scale climate modes and mesoscale weather patterns. Furthermore, recent climatic mass balance variability was simulated for selected glaciers in Southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego by implementing the ’COupled Snow and Ice energy and MAss balance model’ COSIMA. Contrasting patterns of positive simulated annual climatic mass balance and clearly negative geodetic mass balance were found for two neighboring glaciers of the Southern Patagonia Icefield between 2000 and 2014. This highlights the importance of understanding of both, the climatic mass balance, and the ice-dynamical processes. Climatic mass balance simulations were further used to derive glacier steady-state conditions for recent and past glacier extents of Schiaparelli Glacier, aiming for a model-based approximation of climate conditions during the Little Ice Age.

No description available.

The Darwin-Hatherton glacial system (DHGS) drains from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) and through the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) before entering the Ross Embayment. Large ice-free areas covered in glacial sediments surround the DHGS, and at least five glacial drift sheets mark the limits of previous ice extent. The glacier belongs to a group of slow-moving EAIS outlet glaciers which are poorly understood. Despite this, an extrapolation of a glacial drift sheet boundary has been used to determine the thickness of the EAIS and the advanced West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). In order to accurately determine the past and present contributions of the Antarctic ice sheets to sea level changes, these uncertainties should be reduced. This study aims to examine the present and LGM ice dynamics of the DHGS by combining newly acquired field measurements with a 3-D numerical ice sheet-shelf model. The fieldwork included a ground penetrating radar survey of ice thickness and surface velocity measurements by GPS. In addition, an extensive dataset of airborne radar measurements and meteorological recordings from automatic weather stations were made available. The model setup involved nesting a high-resolution (1 km) model of the DHGS within a lower resolution (20 km) all-Antarctic simulation. The nested 3-D modelling procedure enables an examination of the impact of changes of the EAIS and WAIS on the DHGS behaviour, and accounts for a complex glacier morphology and surface mass balance within the glacial system. The findings of this study illustrate the difference in ice dynamics between the Darwin and Hatherton Glaciers. The Darwin Glacier is up to 1500 m thick, partially warm-based, has high driving stresses (~150 kPa), and measured ice velocities increase from 20-30 m yr⁻¹ in the upper parts to ~180 m yr⁻¹ in the lowermost steepest regions, where modelled flow velocities peak at 330 m yr⁻¹. In comparison, the Hatherton Glacier is relatively thin (<900 m), completely cold-based, has low driving stresses (~85 kPa), and is likely to flow with velocities <10 m yr⁻¹ in most regions. It is inferred that the slow velocities with which the DHGS flows are a result of high subglacial mountains restricting ice flow from the EAIS, large regions of frozen basal conditions, low SMB and undulating bedrock topography. The model simulation of LGM ice conditions within the DHGS implies that the ice thickness of the WAIS has been significantly overestimated in previous reconstructions. Results show that the surface of the WAIS and EAIS away from the TAM would have been elevated 600-750 and 0-80 m above present-day levels, respectively, for the DHGS to reach what was inferred to represent the LGM drift sheet limit. Ultimately, this research contributes towards a better understanding of the dynamic behaviour of slow moving TAM outlet glaciers, and provides new insight into past changes of the EAIS and WAIS. This will facilitate more accurate quantifications of contributions of the WAIS and EAIS to changes in global sea level.