A report on ice core drilling on the western plateau of Mt. Belukha in the Russian Altai Mountains in 2003

A 171m deep ice core from the surface to the bottom has been successfully drilled on the West Belukha snow-firn Plateau in the Russian Altai Mountains in the summer of 2003. The drill system used in this project was an electro-mechanical drill with a barrel 135cm long and 9.5cm in inner diameter manufactured by Geo Tecs Co., Japan. The maximum core length for a drilling run is 55cm. It took 87.5 hours in actual working time of 7 working days to drill the core down to the bottom of the glacier. The total number of drilling runs was 325. The mean length of the drilled core was 48.6cm. Most of the cores were not brittle and had a good cylindrical shape. High air temperature above the melting point in the drilling shelter caused some trouble in drilling. One of the major troubles was slip of cutters due to adhesion of cutting tips to the cutters and shoes

Stable-Isotope and Trace Element Time Series from Fedchenko Glacier (Pamirs) Snow/Firn Cores

In summer 2005, two pilot snow/firn cores were obtained at 5365 and 5206 m a.s.l. on Fedchenko glacier, Pamirs, Tajikistan, the world\u27s longest and deepest alpine glacier. The well-defined seasonal layering appearing in stable-isotope and trace element distribution identified the physical links controlling the climate and aerosol concentration signals. Air temperature and humidity/precipitation were the primary determinants of stable-isotope ratios. Most precipitation over the Pamirs originated in the Atlantic. In summer, water vapor was re-evaporated from semi-arid regions in central Eurasia. The semi-arid regions contribute to non-soluble aerosol loading in snow accumulated on Fedchenko glacier. In the Pamir core, concentrations of rare earth elements, major and other elements were less than those in the Tien Shan but greater than those in Antarctica, Greenland, the Alps and the Altai. The content of heavy metals in the Fedchenko cores is 2-14 times lower than in the Altai glaciers. Loess from Afghan-Tajik deposits is the predominant lithogenic material transported to the Pamirs. Trace elements generally showed that aerosol concentration tended to increase on the windward slopes during dust storms but tended to decrease with altitude under clear conditions. The trace element profile documented one of the most severe droughts in the 20th century

Application of remote sensing and GIS in glacier monitoring :glacier variability in Central Asia (Tien Shan and Altai) during the last 30-60 years /by Arzhan Surazakov.

This study aims to estimate glacier changes in the two mountain systems of Central Asia - Tien Shan and Altai, during the last 30-60 years as a consequence of regional climatic changes using remote sensing and GIS methods. To this goal two methodological studies were undertaken demonstrating the potential of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data and declassified KH-9 Hexagon images for estimation of glacier changes. Glacier area and volume changes were estimated in three pilot basins in Tien Shan and Altai: Akshiirak, Ala-Archa and Aktru using data from historical geodetic surveys, topographic maps, aerial photography, declassified KH-9 Hexagon photographs, ASTER and ALOS/PRISM satellite images, SRTM and IceSAT elevation data and DGPS in situ measurements.;Using SRTM data and a DEM from 1:25,000 topographic map glacier surface changes can be estimated with error about 8.2 m. In spite of SRTM error and the occasional absence of data on steep slopes, major long-term changes on relatively flat ablation and accumulation areas are clearly identifiable. Furthermore, the presence of local areas of rebound on glacier surfaces allowed decoupling of dynamic and climatic components of glacier changes that are not available solely from planimetric data.;880-01From 1952 to 2006 the Aktru basin glaciers lost 7.2% of their area. During the last three decades, the rate of area loss accelerated by a factor of 1.8 (from 0.9% to 1.6% per decade). The changes were caused mainly by the increase of summer air temperature by 1.03{deg}C at elevations below 2500 m and 0.83{deg}C at elevations over 2500 m from 1951 to 2000.;The glaciers in Ala-Archa and Tien Shan retreated up to 3 km between the 1860s and 2003, the surface of their ablation areas lowered more than 130 m. The area of the Ala Archa glaciers shrunk by 15.8% over the last 40 yr. The Akshiirak glacierized massif lost about 10 km 3 of glacier ice and 12.5% of glacier area between 1943 and 2000. From 1977 to 2003 the rate of volume loss of the Akshiirak glaciers accelerated by a factor of 2.7. Continuous growth of spring and autumn air temperatures in northern Tien Shan and increase of summer air temperature in Central Tien Shan since the middle of 1970's without increase of precipitation may further accelerate glacier recession and intensify desertification processes in the Central Asia and northwestern China.Thesis (Ph. D., Geography)--University of Idaho, August 2008

202 Annals of Glaciology 43 2006 Glacier changes in the central and northern Tien Shan during the last 140 years based on surface and remote-sensing data

ABSTRACT. This research presents a precise evaluation of the recession of Akshiirak and Ala Archa glaciers, Tien Shan, central Asia, based on data of geodetic surveys from 1861–69, aerial photographs from 1943, 1963, 1977 and 1981, 1: 25 000 scale topographic maps and SRTM and ASTER data from 2000–03. The Akshiirak glacierized massif in the central Tien Shan contains 178 glaciers covering 371.6 km 2, and the Ala Archa glacier basin in the northern Tien Shan contains 48 glaciers coverin

Mass balance and climate history of a high-altitude glacier, Desert Andes of Chile

Glaciers in the dry Chilean Andes provide important ecological services, yet their mass balance response to past and ongoing climate change has been little studied. This study examines the recent (2002-2015), historical (1955-2005), and past (5000 m), using a combination of glaciological, geodetic, and ice core observations. Mass balance has been predominantly negative since 2002. Analysis of mass balance and meteorological data since 2002 suggests that mass balance is currently mostly sensitive to precipitation variations, while low temperatures, aridity and high solar radiation and wind speeds cause large sublimation losses and limited melting. Mass balance reconstructed by geodetic methods shows that Guanaco Glacier has been losing mass since at least 1955, and that mass loss has increased over time until present. An ice core recovered from the deepest part of the glacier in 2008 revealed that the glacier is cold-based with a -5.5 degrees C basal temperature and a warm reversal of the temperature profile above 60-m depth attributed to the recent atmospheric warming trend. Detailed stratigraphic and stable isotope analyses of the upper 20 m of the core revealed seasonal cycles in the delta O-18 and delta H-2 records with periods varying between 0.5 and 3 m. w.e. a(-1). Deuterium excess values larger than 10 parts per thousand suggest limited post-depositional sublimation, while the presence of numerous refrozen ice layers indicate significant summer melt. Tritium concentration in the upper 20 m of the core was very low, while Pb-210 was undetected, indicating that the glacier surface in 2008 was at least 100 years old. Taken together, these results suggest that Guanaco Glacier formed under drastically different climate conditions than today, with humid conditions causing high accumulation rates, reduced sublimation and increased melting. Reconstruction of mass balance based on correlations with precipitation and streamflow records show periods of sustained mass gain in the early 20th century and the 1980s, separated by periods of mass loss. The southern migration of the South Pacific Subtropical High over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries is proposed as the main mechanism explaining the progressive precipitation starvation of glaciers in this area.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: RGPIN-2015-03844. Canada Research Chairs: 231380. CONICYT-Programa Regional: R16A10003. Compania Minera Nevada