Scientists Study Glacial Retreat in Chile
Rhonda Moniz
December 19, 2012
Due to climate change the Gualas Glacier in the Patagonian area of Chile has seen dramatic melting over the past century. Due to climate warming and decreased snowfall to replenish the glacier, it has retreated 5.5 miles over the past 110 years with 1.7 miles just in the past 25 years. The international team has found some interesting information. The scientists extracted a 50-foot-long core of sediments that had settled on the seafloor after being run over by the glacier into a fjord over the past 5,400 years. Researchers analyzed the sizes of particles and the concentrations of chemical elements in the sediments, evidence they used to reconstruct when the glacier had advanced and retreated.