Abstract

We present geodetic mass-balance estimates for ten glaciers (22.6 +/- 1.1 km(2)) around Volcan Domuyo between 1962 and 2020 (and 46 glaciers covering 29 +/- 1.5 km(2) between 1984 and 2020), derived from airborne, ASTER and Pleiades imagery. Overall, we find a slightly negative mass balance (-0.15 +/- 0.09 m w.e. a(-1)) for the entire 1962-2020 time span. A closer inspection of sub-periods reveals, however, an increasingly negative mass balance with time. The Domuyo glaciers shifted from a moderately positive mass balance of +0.28 +/- 0.13 m w.e. a(-1) between 1962 and 1984, to a strongly negative mass balance of -0.99 +/- 0.19 m w.e. a(-1) between 2012 and 2020. An increase in summer temperatures and a decrease in winter precipitation during the last four decades are likely drivers of the observed glacier changes. We support this finding by implementing a minimal glacier model, relying solely on monthly precipitation and air temperatures. The mass-balance evolution detected in Volcan Domuyo is consistent with other sites spread across the Central Andes, suggesting rapidly increasing glacier wastage impacts are occurring at a geographically wider scale.