Glaciers act as hydrologic reservoirs in mountain environments around
the world. In regions that are particularly water-stressed, such as the
Andes, glaciers contribute significantly to water resources in
downstream communities. As these glaciers recede rapidly throughout the
Andes under climatic changes, the surface composition of their ablation
zones appears to be shifting from predominantly clean-ice to
debris-covered ice. Determining what climatological and topographical
factors control debris-coverage in the ablation zones of glaciers
throughout the Andes will assist in understanding why these glaciers are
becoming increasingly covered by debris and how this debris coverage
will continue in the future. By exploring multiple drainage basins
across the Andes, this study will discover which regions are most
impacted by this transition. Debris-coverage is known to have varying
impacts on the ablation rates of glaciers and likely alters the
sub-glacial and pro-glacial hydrology of the drainage basin they reside
in. With debris-covered glaciers becoming more prevalent across the
Andes, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of the hydrology
of these complex cryospheric features. Through the use of terrestrial
photogrammetry and hydrological techniques, this study will investigate
the controls of debris coverage and assess the hydrological impacts of
this debris on glaciers throughout the Andes.