DOI

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.
Translated title of the contributionGLACIER SHRINKAGE IN THE TAVAN-BOGD MASSIF SINCE THE LITTLE ICE AGE MAXIMUM AND ITS RECENT ACCELERATION
Original languageRussian
Article number4
Pages (from-to)50-63
Number of pages14
JournalКРИОСФЕРА ЗЕМЛИ
Volume29
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 31 Aug 2025

    Research areas

  • Altai, Little Ice Age, accelerated shrinkage of modern mountain glaciers, reconstruction of paleoglaciers

ID: 140230111