XX century: Brief historical outline of Soviet/Russian glaciology

• Published in: Ice and Snow
• Main Author: V. M. Kotlyakov
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Nauka 2019
• Subjects: гляциологические симпозиумы; журнал по гляциологии; каталог ледников ссср; международный геофизический год; секция гляциологии; Science; Q; Franz Josef Land; Avsyuk; Antarc*; Antarctica; Novaya Zemlya; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15356/2076-6734-2019-3-436; https://doaj.org/article/29ddbda5388f408ea3f52037d6af251a

The article describes the formation and development of Soviet glaciology during the second half of the XX century and the role of the Glaciological Department of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences in this process. The Department of Glaciology had been organized in 1957 by outstanding Soviet scientist G.A. Avsyuk. During the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) Soviet glaciologists worked in Antarctica, on the Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as in the Polar Urals, where a permanent station was established and operated until disintegration of the Soviet Union. In succeeding years comprehensive field studies of glaciers were carried out in the Caucasus, in mountains of Central Asia and at Spitsbergen. Since 1961, the results were published in the periodical issues «Data of Glaciological Studies». In 2010, this edition was transformed into an academic journal under the title «Ice and Snow». Two years later, along with the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society became its co-founder. This is a quarterly journal.In the early 1960s, special Division of Glaciology had been organized in the Russian Geophysical Committee under Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and later on, members of this Department regularly organized All-Union (then All-Russian) glaciological symposia. These were held in different cities of the Soviet Union/Russia. A total of 16 glaciological symposia took place from 1961 to 2016. In addition, in 1970-80s the Department of Glaciology annually conducted school workshops on different areas of glaciology. In the 1970s, a program had been developed for continuous observations of the glacier fluctuations of three classes, differing in degree of detail; these works were carried out until disintegration of the Soviet Union. In 1965-1982, Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Hydrometeorological Service collected data to compile the USSR Glacier Inventory, and the Department of Glaciology of the ...