GLACIER SHRINKAGE IN THE TAVAN-BOGD MASSIF SINCE THE LITTLE ICE AGE MAXIMUM AND ITS RECENT ACCELERATION
D.A. Ganyushkin1, O.V. Ostanin2, D.V. Bantcev1, S.A. Griga1, Yu.A. Gorbunova1, E.S. Derkach1,3, V.A. Rasputina1, I.V. Volkov1, K.V. Chistyakov1, T.A. Andreeva1
1Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
2Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia
3Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Keywords: Altai, reconstruction of paleoglaciers, Little Ice Age, accelerated shrinkage of modern mountain glaciers
Abstract
The analysis of satellite imagery and field data allowed a reconstruction of gradual glacier shrinkage in the Tavan-Bogd transboundary massif (Altai) from the maximum of the Little Ice Age to 2024. Information on the glaciers has been obtained for the maximum of the Little Ice Age and the years 1968, 1977, 1989, 2000, 2010, 2020, and 2024. Since the Little Ice Age maximum, the area of the Tavan-Bogd glaciers decreased by 49 % whereas the firn line increased in altitude by 149 m, on average. An estimated volume of the glaciers decreased by 69.1-75.7 %. A vertical range of glaciation reduced by 330 m. Glacier shrinkage is accelerating which has manifested itself for the fronts of large valley glaciers after 2010, and for the total glaciation area since 2020, when area losses began to average 1.6 % per year. Contrasts in the aspect distribution of glaciers have increased, which may reflect an increase in the incoming solar radiation. Valley glaciers remain dominant in area, but their share in the total area has decreased. Accelerated glacier shrinkage appears to be a delayed response to an abrupt rise in summer temperatures during the 1990s.
|
