Streamflow variations across the Andes (18°-55°S) during the instrumental era.

ABSTRACT: The rivers originating in the southern Andes (18°-55°S) support numerous ecosystems and a large number of human populations and socio-economic activities in the adjacent lowlands of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Here we show that ca. 75% of the total variance in the streamflow records from this extensive region can be explained by only eight spatially coherent patterns of variability. Five (three) of these Andean patterns exhibit extreme dry (wet) conditions in recent years, with strong interannual variations in northern Chile; long-term drying trends between 31° and 41°S; a transitional pattern in the central Patagonian Andes; and increasing trends in northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia, the Fueguian Andes, and the eastern portion of the South Patagonian Icefield. Multivariate reg

SUBMITTER: Masiokas MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6884640 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature