Abstract
ABSTRACTSurge-type glaciers have been observed in several mountain ranges of the world. Though Karakoram and Pamir are the hot spots for the occurrence of surge-type glaciers in High Mountain Asia, few surge-type glaciers also exist in Tien Shan. These have not been studied or reported in detail in the recent literature. We have identified 39 surge-type glaciers and five tributary surges in Tien Shan either from available literature or by visual interpretation using available images from the period 1960 until 2014. Out of the 39 glaciers, 9 are confirmed as surge-type, 13 are very probably surge-type, and the remaining are possibly of surge-type. Most of the surge-type glaciers are located in Ak-Shiirak and Central Tien Shan. Compared with the normal glaciers of Tien Shan, the surge-type glaciers are larger, cover higher ranges of elevations, and have shallower slopes. There is no significant difference in aspect. The largest surge events were observed in Central Tien Shan: North Inylchek Glacier (years 1996/1997) and Samoilowich Glacier (years 1992 until 2006) advanced several kilometers. The surge cycle was around 50 years for both of these glaciers. The advance was less pronounced for all other surge-type glaciers during the period ca. 1960–2014. Some of the tributary glaciers behaved differently than the main glaciers in the sense that they continuously advanced during the entire period of our study, whereas the main glaciers have remained stable or retreated.
Highlights
Surge-type glaciers constitute only a small percentage of the world’s glaciers and are gathered in clusters, which are nonrandomly distributed over the world (Jiskoot et al, 1998; Sevestre and Benn, 2015)
Out of the five tributary glacier surges, two were identified in this study (Fig. 1, Table 1). Most of these glaciers concentrate in Central Tien Shan and Ak-Shiirak and could be identified as surge-type based on the presence of geomorphological/glaciological features and the rate of advance during the investigated time period (Table 4)
We have used a variety of high- to medium-resolution satellite images of different dates from the 1960s to 2014 to record surge events in Tien Shan glaciers
Summary
Surge-type glaciers constitute only a small percentage of the world’s glaciers and are gathered in clusters, which are nonrandomly distributed over the world (Jiskoot et al, 1998; Sevestre and Benn, 2015). Identification, monitoring, and a solid understanding of the causes, mechanisms, and factors influencing glacier surges are crucial, because surging has caused major hazards such as outburst floods of dammed lakes and associated impacts in the proglacial area (Bruce et al, 1987; Jiskoot et al, 1998; Kotlyakov et al, 2008; Häusler et al, 2016). Monitoring of past surges and assessment of the advance, volume change, and velocities of ice movements during surging may serve as important parameters in predicting the future surges of the same glacier. These glaciers need special consideration in glacio-hydrological models for assessing past and future impacts of glacier changes on river runoff
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