A quantitative model for describing snowunes in the central Andes mountains

Resumo

The modern snowline elevation of the central Andes can be described numerically from available data in terms of regional variations in climate and topography. Multiple regression analysis of modern climatic and snowline data for locations in the Andes between 10º and 30º south latitude produces an equation which relates snowline elevation to mean annual temperature, precipitaton, and the elevation of the annual 0ºC isotherm. The coefficient of correlation (R = 0.83) for this model is considered to be significant because most of the remaining error can be attributed to the variability of the reported snowline observations which have not yet been evaluated for errors. An inversion of the model should ultimately allow, for the first time, a quantitative reconstruction of Andean paleoclimates from Pleistocene snowline data. The ultimate goal is to determine the differences between glacial and modern climates, not only for the Andes but for other major mountain belts of the world.