Changes in the Size and Condition of the Glaciers in Kazakhstan for the Last 60 Years (1955–2015)

Abstract

 159  Лёд и Снег · 2018 · Т. 58 · № 2Ушёл из жизни Евгений Николаевич Вилесов -один из старейших гляциологов Республики Казахстан, активный член Гляциологической ассоциации. В последние годы он преподавал в Казахском Национальном университете им. аль-Фараби (Алматы), но продолжал гляциологические исследования и опубликовал несколько монографий о ледниках Казахстана. Совсем недавно Евгений Николаевич прислал для публикации нашего журнала свою статью, которая оказалась последней в его творчестве. Мы публикуем эту статью, доработанную Г.А. Носенко. Keywords: ablation, accumulation, glacial runoff, glacier dynamics, inventory of glaciers, Kazakhstan, mass balance. SummaryIn 1960-70s, a complete Inventory of the Kazakhstan glaciers had been prepared in the framework of the All-Union Glacier Inventory Program. All the morphometric parameters of the glaciers together with area and linear dimensions of them, and the absolute heights of characteristic points were determined from the 1:100 000 scale topographic maps and aerial photography of [1955][1956]. In the late 1970-s and in 1990, new inventories of glaciers of the Zailiysky and Dzungarian Alatau were prepared by the same procedure from the 1:25 000 scale topographic maps and aerial photography. Since the beginning of the 20 th century, satellite images and GIS technologies were used for this purpose. In this work, the magnitudes and rate of changes in the number of glaciers, their areas and volumes, as well as their mass balance for 60 years were obtained using data from different inventories. It was found that during the period under investigation the area of glaciation of Kazakhstan decreased from 1744.8 down to 1032.1 km 2 , i.е. by 712.7 km 2 . The relative decrease in the area of ice was 40.8% (0,68% per a year). The largest losses of the glacier areas took place on the northern slopes of the Zailiysky and Dzungarsky Alatau -124.8 and 121.6 km 2 , respectively. The volume of ice decreased by more than 30 km 3 (42.5%). The loss of the ice mass over the whole glacier area is approximately equal to 20 m in the water equivalent. Data on the glacier degradation in Kazakhstan obtained over the past 60 years provide the basis for monitoring of future glacier changes under conditions of the present-day climate.Citation: Vilesov Е.N. Changes in the size and condition of the glaciers in Kazakhstan for the last 60 years .

Glacier Recession in Altay Mountains after the LIA Maximum

“…In Kazakhstan by 2015 there were 116 glaciers with total area 37.212 km [23]. In Mongolia according to U. Kamp and C. Pan in 2010 672 glaciers covered an area of 372.3 km 2 [71] (Landsat imagery had been used).…”

“…Although the first scientific data on the existence of glaciers in Altai were obtained by F. Gebler in 1835 [14], until now, almost all estimates of the area and number of modern glaciers in Altai and their recession are limited to its individual parts [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. This is due to the fact that this mountain system is located on the territory of different countries, and since the collapse of the USSR, the problem has only worsened, since the glaciers of the Soviet part of Altai were partly in Kazakhstan, partly in Russia.…”

“…In the Caucasus the readvances took place in the 1910s, 1920s and 1970s-1980s [40]. There is less information about some remote areas with rare population, where most data are based on remote sensing and paleo reconstructions [14,[23][24][25][26][27]. For example, in the Altai mountains after the discovery of the glaciers in 1835, it was only in 1897, that the systematic measurements of the change in the positions of glacial termini began, even though only few glaciers in the Russian part of the mountains were affected.…”

The current state of the cenopopulations of Adonis tianschanica (Adolf) Lipsch. (Ranunculaceae) in Southeast Kazakhstan

“…The Dzungarian Alatau, which lies between 44 and 46° N, is not a single ridge but an entire mountain system, which consists of several, but mainly of two parallel, high mountain ranges: the northern and the southern (Kenzhebaeva et al 2014). The Dzungarian Alatau is characterized by a sharply continental climate with large variations of seasonal and daily temperatures, very low precipitation (in the plain a little more than 300 mm per year, in the mountains up to 400 mm) and dry summers (Vilesov 2018). Relative humidity during the day is about 50% (about 60% in the mountains), and at night, about 60% (about 80% in the mountains) (Panyushkina et al 2017).…”