Excluding the large ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers in South America are large contributors to sea-level rise¹. Their rates of mass loss, however, are poorly known. Here, using repeat bi-static synthetic aperture radar interferometry over the years 2000 to 2011/2015, we compute continent-wide, glacier-specific elevation and mass changes for 85% of the glacierized area of South America. Mass loss rate is calculated to be 19.43 ± 0.60 Gt a⁻¹ from elevation changes above ground, sea or lake level, with an additional 3.06 ± 1.24 Gt a⁻¹ from subaqueous ice mass loss not contributing to sea-level rise. The largest contributions come from the Patagonian icefields, where 83% mass loss occurs, largely from dynamic adjustments of large glaciers. These changes contribute 0.054 ± 0.002 mm a⁻¹ to sea-level rise. In comparison with previous studies², tropical and out-tropical glaciers — as well as those in Tierra del Fuego — show considerably less ice loss. These results provide basic information to calibrate and validate glacier-climate models and also for decision-makers in water resource management³.

除了格陵兰和南极洲的大型冰盖，南美的冰川是造成海平面上升的主要因素¹。然而，它们的质量损失率却鲜为人知。在这里，我们使用2000年至2011/2015年间的重复双静态合成孔径雷达干涉测量法，计算了南美洲85％的冰川化地区的整个大陆，特定于冰川的海拔和质量变化。根据海拔，海平面或湖泊高度的海拔变化，质量损失率经计算为19.43±0.60 Gt a ^-1，另外还有3.06±1.24 Gt a ^-1水下冰块的流失并没有导致海平面上升。最大的贡献来自巴塔哥尼亚冰原，那里发生了83％的质量损失，主要来自大型冰川的动态调整。这些变化为海平面上升贡献了0.054±0.002 mm a ^-1。与先前的研究²相比，热带和热带冰河以及火地岛的冰流失明显减少。这些结果为校准和验证冰川气候模型以及水资源管理决策者³提供了基本信息。