Changes and representativeness of mountain glaciation parameters

• Published in: Ice and Snow
• Main Authors: V. Konovalov G., В. Коновалов Г.
• Other Authors: Financial support for this study received from the budget of the Institute of geography, Russian Academy of Sciences in the framework of scientific topics № 0148-2018-0008 and № 01482019-0004, Финансовая поддержка для проведения настоящего исследования получена из бюджета Института географии РАН в рамках выполнения научных тем № 0148-2018-0008 и № 0148-2019-0004
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: IGRAS 2020
• Subjects: ablation; Alay ridge; Altay; glaciation; modeling; monitoring; North Caucasus; Pamirs; seasonal runoff; summer mass balance; абляция; Алайский хребет; Алтай; летний баланс массы; моделирование; мониторинг; оледенение; Памир; Северный Кавказ; сезонный сток; Annals of Glaciology; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://ice-snow.igras.ru/jour/article/view/797; https://doi.org/10.31857/S2076673420020031

The study was aimed at analysis of changes in the area Fgl, the number Ngl and statistical parameters of distribution for different aggregates of glaciers over two periods: 1946–1975 and 1976–2005. The determined changes in the above parameters of glaciers located in river basins of the following mountain regions: the North Caucasus (Baksan, Chegem, Cherek, Malka, Teberda, Terek), Alay ridge (Akbura, Isfara, Isfayram, Shahimardan, Sokh), Altay (Aktru, Chuya, Katun) and Pamir (Gunt), are presented in the article. For better reliability of the height parameters of the glacier aggregates at the scale of the river basins, the maximum, minimum and average height values of individual glaciers were weighed by area. The trustworthiness of changes of the weighed height parameters confirms consistency with the linear relationship adopted at the scale of the river basin between the dimensions of the glaciers and the average weighed heights of beginning, end and average altitude of individual glaciers. Definition of the concept and the scale of representativeness of local measurements of glacier mass balance in the WGMS database is the actual glaciological problem. The proposed quantitative substantiation and the results of the selection of a group of representative glaciers are, in general, based on the use of parameters of dynamical state of individual glaciers distributed over several intervals from the minimum to maximum area values. The parameters of each glacier included: total area, volume, maximum and minimum height difference, index of morphological type, average thickness, orientation and slope of the surface. The sequence of determining the composition of a sample of representative glaciers on the example of glaciations in the basins of the Kyzylsu Western (Pamir) and Katun (Altai) rivers is described. Important part of the work was performed to reveal the possibilities to use local values (Ab – ablation/Bs – summer mass balance) measured on a priori reference/representative glaciers in the WGMS database as an ...