The glaciers, an observatory of climate, exploratory step for Kerguelen component - GLACIOCLIM-KESAACO (KErguelen Surface Ablation, Accumulation and Climate Observation)

GLACIOCLIM is a French observatory to globally detect, monitor and understand climate and mass balance variability in the glacial environment. In the Kerguelen archipelago (49�S, 69�E, with an ice covered area of 552km� in 2001), there have been few short term glaciological studies on Ampere Glacier (main glacier of Cook icecap).

Paleoclimatic reconstructions over the holocene and long term data from oceanographic and meteorological observatories are also available to get information on the climatic variability during the last 50 years. However, even though these data are essential, a study of the climate-glacier relationship is still necessary to describe the main factors that induced the current dramatic retreat of the Cook icecap. Studying Kerguelen ice caps has become urgent, but is also logistically feasible.