Abstract

The Central Andes of Chile are known for being the densest populated zone of the country, whilst hosting a wide variety of glaciers, including the largest ice masses outside Patagonia. Such is the case of the Volcan catchment (33.82 degrees S/70.00 degrees W), located 40 km east of Santiago city, which is characterised by the coexistence of active volcanism with 195 glaciers accounted for within its boundaries. This work presents a susceptibility assessment for glacier hazards in the Volcan catchment. The susceptibility of five different glacier-related mass movements is evaluated based on an analytic hierarchic process method through the determination of a susceptibility index. The assessed processes include ice avalanches, surges, low-angle glacier detachments, GLOFs and lahars. Our results show that within the catchment, ten glaciers are highly susceptible to ice avalanches, one to glacier surges, two to catastrophic detachments and seven to GLOFs, whereas three glaciers are highly susceptible to eruption-triggered lahars. We discuss our results in terms of hazard and risk assessment and compare our findings with previously published reports on the matter. The proposed methodology is a first step regarding required action plans for glacier-related hazard management in the region.