Retrieval of the climatic signal from the Palisade Glacier since the end of the Little Ice Age, Sierra Nevada, California

Abstract

This study assesses changes on the Palisade Glacier, Sierra Nevada, California since the Little Ice Age (LIA; ∼1850), known locally as Matthes. Field survey data from Septembers of 2008, 2009, 2013, and 2014 are mapped, analyzed, and compared to historical records using a GIS-based spatio-temporal model of the glacier’s geometries as reconstructed from topographic maps, aerial images, historical survey accounts, and geological and geomorphologic records. The repeat photographic method is applied. Findings indicate significant glacial recession since end of the LIA, significant glacial retreat from the LIA moraines after 1907/08, steady mass loss since 1907/08, followed by several years of mass gain starting in 1977, and a return to a recessional pattern by the mid-1980s, which only intensified since the late 1990s and into the twenty-first century. By the end of the 2013-2014 hydrologic year the Palisade Glacier reached the smallest area and mass since the end of the LIA.