Understanding water in mountain regions
Marcelo Somos-Valenzuela, PhD · Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Baylor University · Director of Lab-MoRH
I am a hydrologist studying how water is stored in and moves through mountain landscapes, and how a changing climate is altering it. With the students and researchers of the Mountain and Water Resources Lab (Lab-MoRH) at Baylor University and the Universidad de La Frontera in Chile, I combine fieldwork, remote sensing and physically based models to understand glaciers, snow, groundwater and streamflow in the Andes and other mountain ranges, and the natural hazards that come with a warming climate.
Research
Glaciers and mountain water
How glaciers, snow and groundwater feed headwater rivers in the Andes, and what their retreat means for water resources downstream.
Mountain hazards
Glacial lake outburst floods, landslides and debris flows, from the Patagonian Andes to the Himalaya of Nepal and Peru, studied with field surveys and numerical simulation.
Hydrologic modeling
Improving how hydrological models represent mountains, from glaciers and snow to groundwater and steep terrain, and testing them against field stations and satellite data to better simulate and forecast streamflow in mountain basins.
Recent publications
- Arndt, J. E., Somos, M., et al. (2026). The decline of a caldera-filling glacier at Volcán Sollipulli, Chile. JGR: Earth Surface. Read
- Irarrazaval, I., Somos-Valenzuela, M., et al. (2026). Shifts in glacier dynamics during land-to-lake terminus transition in western Patagonia. Journal of Glaciology. Read
- Manquehual-Cheuque, F., et al. & Somos-Valenzuela, M. (2026). Composite flood generation driven by a warm atmospheric river in a southern Andean basin, Chile. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. Read
From the field
Photos from fieldwork in Patagonia and the Grand Tetons, and from conferences. Follow the lab on Instagram for news from the field: Mountain and Water Resources Lab 🏔❄️ (@lab_morh).
Join or collaborate
Interested in joining Lab-MoRH or working together? Get in touch.
