IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/perpro/v36y2025i1p123-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rock Glacier Kinematics in the Valles Calchaquíes Region, Northwestern Argentina, From Multi‐Temporal Aerial and Satellite Imagery (1968–2023)

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Henrik Blöthe
  • Daniel Falaschi
  • Sebastián Vivero
  • Takeo Tadono

Abstract

In semiarid mountain ranges, rock glaciers constitute an important part of the periglacial environment. However, quantitative data on the state of rock glacier activity remain scarce. Here, we derive kinematic information on rock glaciers located in the Valles Calchaquíes region (24–25° S) in Argentina from optical feature tracking in historical aerial photographs, ALOS PRISM, and CBERS‐4A imagery for 175 landforms between 1968 and 2023. To overcome matching difficulties resulting from varying image quality and lighting conditions, we make use of directional filters to enhance feature‐tracking performance. We find the mean surface velocities exceeding the limit of detection (LoD) of our analysis to fall between 0.28 and 0.70 m yr−1 for all three epochs. Automatically deriving moving areas (MAs) with homogeneous flow fields from our data, we find between 46% and 25% of MAs are exceeding the LoD of our analysis. Analyzing data that covers more than five decades, we find largely unchanged rock glacier velocities, despite significant warming documented for the region. Our study provides the first quantitative information on rock glacier kinematics for multiple landforms in the Desert Andes of Argentina, contributing important information to assess the impacts of climate warming on this remote periglacial environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Henrik Blöthe & Daniel Falaschi & Sebastián Vivero & Takeo Tadono, 2025. "Rock Glacier Kinematics in the Valles Calchaquíes Region, Northwestern Argentina, From Multi‐Temporal Aerial and Satellite Imagery (1968–2023)," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 123-136, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:perpro:v:36:y:2025:i:1:p:123-136
    DOI: 10.1002/ppp.2260
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2260
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ppp.2260?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Falaschi & Mariano Castro & Mariano Masiokas & Takeo Tadono & Ana Lía Ahumada, 2014. "Rock Glacier Inventory of the Valles Calchaquíes Region (~ 25°S), Salta, Argentina, Derived from ALOS Data," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(1), pages 69-75, January.
    2. Donna M. Koning & Dan J. Smith, 1999. "Movement of King's Throne rock glacier, Mount Rae area, Canadian Rocky Mountains," Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 151-162, April.
    3. Vasylii Lytkin, 2020. "Inventory and Distribution of Rock Glaciers in Northeastern Yakutia," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Tomáš Uxa & Peter Mida, 2017. "Rock glaciers in the Western and High Tatra Mountains, Western Carpathians," Journal of Maps, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 844-857, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vasylii Lytkin, 2020. "Inventory and Distribution of Rock Glaciers in Northeastern Yakutia," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Moisei Zakharov & Sébastien Gadal & Jūratė Kamičaitytė & Mikhail Cherosov & Elena Troeva, 2022. "Distribution and Structure Analysis of Mountain Permafrost Landscape in Orulgan Ridge (Northeast Siberia) Using Google Earth Engine," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:perpro:v:36:y:2025:i:1:p:123-136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1530 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.