Below the melting glaciers: an integrated study of glacier hydrologic change and emergent vulnerabilities in a tropical Andean waterscape

Bryan Mark (1), Jeff Bury (2), Mark Carey (3), Ken Young (4), Jeff McKenzie (5), Michel Baraer (6), Kyung In Huh (1), Alex Eddy (1)1. The Ohio State University, Department of Geography and Byrd Polar Research Center2. University of California, Environmental Studies3. University of Oregon, History Department4. University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geography and the Environment5. McGill University, Earth and Planetary Sciences Department6. Ecole de Technology Superieure, University of Quebec

Collaborative Research: Hydrologic Transformation and Human Resilience to Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes

• Michel Baraer: Glacier hydrology

– Dorian Zephir, Alex Guittard

• Ken Young: Biogeography

– Molly Polk

• Mark Carey: History

• Jeff Bury: Human Geography

– Adam French

• Jeff McKenzie: Hydrogeology

– Danny Chavez, Ryan Gordon

• Robert Hellstrom: Microclimatology

• Laura Lautz: Hydrogeology

Waterscape vulnerability: coupling human & natural systems

Over the past decade, we’ve documented that

glaciers are receding, transforming downstream

hydrology

• How much mass are the glaciers losing?

• How is downstream hydrology changing in the watershed?

• What impact does this have on people?

Estudios doctorado (fines de siglo XX)

“Ciencia familiar” Alcides Ames (1942-2007)

1998 “Mis familias” 2012 B&B My Househttp://micasahuaraz.jimdo.com/

http://www.nature.com/news/melting-in-the-andes-goodbye-glaciers-1.11759

http://www.barbara-fraser.com/

Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias Objectivos & Métodos

(1) Medir cabmios de volumen glacial• LiDAR, fotogrametrica, radar

(2) Evaluar impactos de deshielo en la cantidad y calidad del agua

• Mediciones hidroquimicas

• Modelos, nuevos mediciones

(3) Evaluar adaptacion y cambios al nivel del hogar

• Cuencas de estudio seleccionadas

• Entrevistas en las comunidades

3. Tributarias del Rio Santa

2. Confluencia

1. Cuencas glaciales

¿Cuanto de agua aportan los

glaciares al rios?Una gestion de escala

Callejon de Huaylas: la cuenca poblada del Rio Santa

DEM created in ArcInfo using TOPOGRID. Contour lines digitized from 1:100,000 scale maps printed by the Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) with 200 m contour intervals.

N

EW

Huaraz

Olleros

Llanganuco

Hidroelectrica

Paron

Querococha

Chancos

Rio Santa tributarias:% area con glaciares

0

5

10

15

20

25

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Ann

ual d

isch

arge

(%)

Querococha 3% Olleros 10%Chancos 22% Llanganuco 36%Paron 52%

3%

52%

Fusion glacial reduce el contraste en descargadurante el año

Glacier Hydrologic Function

a) More glaciers, less variable discharge

b) More glaciers, more discharge

c) Melt buffers seasonal variation of discharge

a

y = -0.01x + 0.62R2 = 0.68

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

0 20 40 60Glacierised area (%)

Coe

ffici

ent o

f var

iatio

n

b

y = 0.01x + 0.75R2 = 0.45

0.0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

0 20 40 60Glacierised area (%)

Spec

ific

disc

harg

e (m

a-1)

c

y = -0.02x + 2.13R2 = 0.65

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

0 20 40 60Glacierised area (%)

Max

QM

ean

Q

Mark & Seltzer, 2003

Glacier loss by tributary watershedannual fraction of ice loss

La Balsa watershed: average 0.61% area loss per year.1990-2009: rates double that for 1930-2009Volume change:2-12 x > predicted

ASTER satellite imagery from 2001-2003 and 2009-2010

Hydro transformation: Passing “peak water”

•Persistent & accelerating glacier loss = release of more water from storage•Temporary increase in discharge (Q)•Current decline in dry season flow probably began in 1970s

•Deficit in seasonal & annual Q + increased & varied demand raises concerns for water quality

Rio Quilcay

Glacier fed headwatersMelt routed through shallow wetlandsMetamorphic sedimentary rocks, sulfide depositsLarge pastureland and eventual municipal water supply

How is water quality impacted along flow paths from headwaters?

Fortner 1Cameron et al., 1995; 2Schuster, 2005

Un tributaria con metales en exceso de nivels saludables por WHO

Geology & water chemistry

05

10152025303540

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Dis

char

ge (m

3/s)

Distance from Lake Conococha (km)

Huaraz ChavimochicProject +

local irrigation

Dry Season Santa River Discharge

Summary• We have used various integrated methods to show that glaciers

are a small total contribution to water flow, but critical seasonally.

• The Santa River and most tributaries have probably passed a critical threshold and are now decreasing dry-season flow– Once the glaciers completely melt, the discharge will be lower than present

by 2-30%

– Santa River could be on the high end of this estimate

• Water quality is an emergent issue, with high metal concentrations (natural & anthropogenic sources)

• >80% dry season discharge is extracted before Pacific– For industrial ag irrigation, municipal drinking water

• Metal concentrations already threaten water quality in Peruvian glacial melt streams; natural (geology) + human activity

Key insights1. Glacial melt buffering is scale dependent, and

dynamic

2. Groundwater is the major component of the dry season discharge. Further work is required to constrain residence times, flow dynamics, pro-glacial wetland processes.

3. Systematic understanding requires an integration of sustainable embedded observations, modeling and social science, with open sharing of data.

4. Water quality is an emergent issue, with high metal concentrations (natural & anthropogenic sources)

Related publicationsBaraer, M. , B.G. Mark, J.M. McKenzie, T. Condom, K.I. Huh, C. Portocarrero, R.J. Gomez and S.

Rathay (2012). Glacier recession and water resources in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. Journal of Glaciology, 58(207), doi: 10.3189/2012JoG11J186.

Baraer, M., J.M. McKenzie, B.G. Mark and S. Knox (2009). Characterizing contributions of glacier melt and ground water during the dry season in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Advances in Geosciences22, 41-49.

Bury, J., B.G. Mark, J. McKenzie, A. French, M. Baraer, K.I. Huh, M. Zapata and J. Gomez (2011). Glacier recession and human vulnerability in the Yanamarey watershed of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Climatic Change, 105(1-2): 179-206.

Fortner, S., B.G. Mark, J.M. McKenzie, J. Bury, A. Trierweiler, M. Baraer, and L. Munk (2010). Elevated stream trace and minor element concentrations in a tropical proglacial stream. Applied Geochemistry 26, 1792-1801.

Huh, K.I., B.G. Mark and C. Hopkinson (2012). Changes of topographic context of the Yanamareyglaciers in the Tropical Peruvian Andes IAHS Redbook Proceedings.

Mark, B.G. (2008). Tracing Andean glaciers over space and time: some lessons and transdisciplinaryimplications. Global and Planetary Change 60, 101–114.

Mark, B.G., J. Bury, J.M. McKenzie, A. French and M. Baraer (2010). Climate Change and Tropical Andean Glacier Recession: Evaluating Hydrologic Changes and Livelihood Vulnerability in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 100(4), Special Edition on Climate Change, DOI: 10.1080/00045608.2010.497369.

• Thomas Condom (IRD)

• Ing. Ricardo J. Gomez

• Ing. Alejo Cochachin

• Ing. Marco Zapata

• Ing. Cesar Portocarero

• Dr. Pablo Lagos (IGP)

• Autoridad Nacional de Agua Unidad de Glaciologia y Recursos Hidricos

• Parque Nacional de Huascaran

• Kyung In Huh (PhD)

• Oliver Wigmore (PhD)

• Jeff LaFrenierre (PhD)

• Alfonso Fernandez (PhD)

• Adam French (PhD)

• Colin Sinclair (MA)

• Robert Battista (BS)

• Ryan Gordon (PhD)

• Patrick Burns (MS)

• Robert Hellstrom (Bridgewater State)

• Christian Huggel, Nadine Saltzmann (U Zurich)

• Dan Slayback (NASA-SSAI)

• Karina Yager (NASA)

• Laura Lautz (Syracuse)

• Donald Rodbell (Union)

• Nathan Stansell (N Illinois)

• Sarah Fortner (Wittenberg)

http://bprc.osu.edu/glacierchange

http://bprc.osu.edu/glacierchange