ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Cryospheric Sciences
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1533336
This article is part of the Research TopicThe State and Fate of the Cryosphere in the South American AndesView all 11 articles
Glacial and Periglacial Landforms and their Recent Dynamics in the Las Veguitas 1 Catchment, Cordillera Frontal of the Andes (Argentina)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- 2Geography Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland
- 3CONICET Mendoza, Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
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The semi-arid Andes of South America are characterized by large areas with glacial and periglacial environments. This study focuses on the distribution 9 and recent dynamics of glacial and periglacial landforms in the Las Veguitas catchment (3000-5500m), Cordillera Frontal of the Andes, Argentina. A 10 detailed geomorphological map of the catchment is presented, based on high-resolution elevation data (ALOS PALSAR), satellite imagery (WorldView 11 2), and field studies. First, a topographical analysis is performed for the entire Las Veguitas catchment, including elevation, slope and aspect characteristics. 12 Second, the altitudinal range and predominant aspect of glacial features (perennial snow patches, debris-free glaciers, debris-covered glaciers and 13 supraglacial lakes on debris-covered glaciers) and periglacial features (active, inactive and fossil rock glaciers) are analyzed. Currently, glaciers are 14 restricted to ≥ 4000 m, but moraines are identified to elevations of c. 3200 m and lower. Active rock glaciers extend down to 3350 m and have a more 15 southern aspect than both inactive and fossil rock glaciers. Third, a temporal analysis of glacier and rock glacier flow in recent decades has been performed 16 using a time series of remote sensing images. The average velocity of glacier flow of the debris-covered Vallecitos glacier is about 5.9 m/yr for the period 17 2006-2020. The mean velocity of the active part of two large rock glaciers is approximately 0.23 (Franke rock glacier) and 0.74 m/yr (Stepanek rock 18 glacier) for the period 1962-2017.
Keywords: Geomorphological map, glaciers, supraglacial lakes, Alpine permafrost, Rock glaciers, Andes, Spatial and temporal analyses
Received: 23 Nov 2024; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Makopoulou, Trombotto-Liaudat and Kuhry. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Eirini Makopoulou, eirini.makopoulou@oulu.fi
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