Rates of accumulation on late‐Pleistocene glaciers in the eastern half of the USSR

Abstract

Abstract Rates of accumulation at the height of the late‐Pleistocene equilibrium line in the mountains of the eastern USSR were determined on the basis of paleoglaciological maps compiled for the World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources. The technique developed by Krenke for calculating accumulation rates was applied; the relevant calculations were made on the assumption that the late‐Pleistocene drop in mean summer temperature was of the order of 7°C. The results are presented in two maps which show that rates of annual accumulation on the windward sides of Siberian mountains were as high as 600–800 mm, thus considerably exceeding all previous estimates. The pattern of isolines and especially the spacing of lobate protrusions and the trends of gradients would suggest that three glacioclimatic provinces existed in the eastern USSR during the glacial periods, namely the Atlantic, Pacific and Beringian provinces.