Exploring the modern-day sedimentary record of glacial margins in central Chilean Patagonia

Glacial forefields host a wide array of processes and landforms, which can vary significantly, even within today’s overarching context of rapid melting and recession correlated to anthropogenic climate forcing. Detailed studies of the geomorphology and sedimentology of glacial forefields provide insight regarding sediment transport, meltwater pathways, and the behavior of the ice itself. Patagonia’s glaciers have been inventoried, there is vast knowledge of paleoglacier extent, and remote sensing has focused mainly on calculating geometrical changes and velocities. By comparison, detailed sedimentological analyses are long overdue and landsystems models for the present-day state of these environments require updating. This work focuses on the sedimentary processes that are occurring at modern glacial margins, specifically at selected sites in the Northern Patagonian Icefield and the neighboring Monte San Lorenzo massif to the east. High resolution geomorphological maps generated with photogrammetric data from an uncrewed aerial vehicle are presented. These maps, complimented with sedimentological facies descriptions and stratigraphic logging seek to characterize landsystems for the margins of glaciers in and near the Northern Patagonian Icefield, thus working towards an accurate reading of the sedimentary record and a better understanding of current glacial processes.