Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia
Glaciers occupy an area of similar to 1600 km(2) in the Caucasus Mountains. There is widespread evidence of retreat since the Little Ice Age, but an up-to-date regional assessment of glacier change is lacking. In this paper, satellite imagery (Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plu...
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ftunivreading:oai:centaur.reading.ac.uk:4133 2024-06-23T07:54:16+00:00 Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia Stokes, C. R. Gurney, S. D. Shahgedanova, M. Popovnin, V. 2006 https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/4133/ unknown Stokes, C. R., Gurney, S. D. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000049.html>, Shahgedanova, M. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000204.html> orcid:0000-0002-2320-3885 and Popovnin, V. (2006) Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia. Journal of Glaciology, 52 (176). pp. 99-109. ISSN 0022-1430 doi: https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828827 <https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828827> Article NonPeerReviewed 2006 ftunivreading https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828827 2024-06-11T14:41:45Z Glaciers occupy an area of similar to 1600 km(2) in the Caucasus Mountains. There is widespread evidence of retreat since the Little Ice Age, but an up-to-date regional assessment of glacier change is lacking. In this paper, satellite imagery (Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) is used to obtain the terminus position of 113 glaciers in the central Caucasus in 1985 and 2000, using a manual delineation process based on a false-colour composite (bands 5, 4, 3). Measurements reveal that 94% of the glaciers have retreated, 4% exhibited no overall change and 2% advanced. The mean retreat rate equates to similar to 8 m a(-1), and maximum retreat rates approach similar to 38 m a(-1). The largest (>10 km(2)) glaciers retreated twice as much (similar to 12 m a(-1)) as the smallest (<1 km(2)) glaciers (similar to 6 m a(-1)), and glaciers at lower elevations generally retreated greater distances. Supraglacial debris cover has increased in association with glacier retreat, and the surface area of bare ice has reduced by similar to 10% between 1985 and 2000. Results are compared to declassified Corona imagery from the 1960s and 1970s and detailed field measurements and mass-balance data for Djankuat glacier, central Caucasus. It is concluded that the decrease in glacier area appears to be primarily driven by increasing temperatures since the 1970s and especially since the mid-1990s. Continued retreat could lead to considerable changes in glacier runoff, with implications for regional water resources. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading Journal of Glaciology 52 176 99 109 |
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Open Polar |
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CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading |
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ftunivreading |
language |
unknown |
description |
Glaciers occupy an area of similar to 1600 km(2) in the Caucasus Mountains. There is widespread evidence of retreat since the Little Ice Age, but an up-to-date regional assessment of glacier change is lacking. In this paper, satellite imagery (Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) is used to obtain the terminus position of 113 glaciers in the central Caucasus in 1985 and 2000, using a manual delineation process based on a false-colour composite (bands 5, 4, 3). Measurements reveal that 94% of the glaciers have retreated, 4% exhibited no overall change and 2% advanced. The mean retreat rate equates to similar to 8 m a(-1), and maximum retreat rates approach similar to 38 m a(-1). The largest (>10 km(2)) glaciers retreated twice as much (similar to 12 m a(-1)) as the smallest (<1 km(2)) glaciers (similar to 6 m a(-1)), and glaciers at lower elevations generally retreated greater distances. Supraglacial debris cover has increased in association with glacier retreat, and the surface area of bare ice has reduced by similar to 10% between 1985 and 2000. Results are compared to declassified Corona imagery from the 1960s and 1970s and detailed field measurements and mass-balance data for Djankuat glacier, central Caucasus. It is concluded that the decrease in glacier area appears to be primarily driven by increasing temperatures since the 1970s and especially since the mid-1990s. Continued retreat could lead to considerable changes in glacier runoff, with implications for regional water resources. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stokes, C. R. Gurney, S. D. Shahgedanova, M. Popovnin, V. |
spellingShingle |
Stokes, C. R. Gurney, S. D. Shahgedanova, M. Popovnin, V. Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia |
author_facet |
Stokes, C. R. Gurney, S. D. Shahgedanova, M. Popovnin, V. |
author_sort |
Stokes, C. R. |
title |
Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia |
title_short |
Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia |
title_full |
Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia |
title_fullStr |
Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia |
title_sort |
late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the caucasus mountains, russia/georgia |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/4133/ |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_relation |
Stokes, C. R., Gurney, S. D. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000049.html>, Shahgedanova, M. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000204.html> orcid:0000-0002-2320-3885 and Popovnin, V. (2006) Late-20th-century changes in glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia. Journal of Glaciology, 52 (176). pp. 99-109. ISSN 0022-1430 doi: https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828827 <https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828827> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3189/172756506781828827 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
52 |
container_issue |
176 |
container_start_page |
99 |
op_container_end_page |
109 |
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1802646381474611200 |