Paleo-Climate and Glaciological Reconstruction in Central Asia through the Collection and Analysis of Ice Cores and Instrumental Data from the Tien Shan

• Main Authors: Aizen, Vladimir, Bren, Donald, Kreutz, Karl, Wake, Cameron
• Other Authors: United States
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: University of California (System). Regents. 2001
• Subjects: Climatic Change; Mountains; Tropical Regions; Asia; Paleoclimatology; Ice Caps; 54 Environmental Sciences; Glaciers; Chemical Analysis; Drill Cores; ice core
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2172/794067; https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc733833/

While the majority of ice core investigations have been undertaken in the polar regions, a few ice cores recovered from carefully selected high altitude/mid-to-low latitude glaciers have also provided valuable records of climate variability in these regions. A regional array of high resolution, multi-parameter ice core records developed from temperate and tropical regions of the globe can be used to document regional climate and environmental change in the latitudes which are home to the vase majority of the Earth's human population. In addition, these records can be directly compared with ice core records available from the polar regions and can therefore expand our understanding of inter-hemispheric dynamics of past climate changes. The main objectives of our paleoclimate research in the Tien Shan mountains of middle Asia combine the development of detailed paleoenvironmental records via the physical and chemical analysis of ice cores with the analysis of modern meteorological and hydrological data. The first step in this research was the collection of ice cores from the accumulation zone of the Inylchek Glacier and the collection of meteorological data from a variety of stations throughout the Tien Shan. The research effort described in this report was part of a collaborative effort with the United State Geological Survey's (USGS) Global Environmental Research Program which began studying radionuclide deposition in mid-latitude glaciers in 1995.