TY - JOUR
T1 - Strong acceleration of glacier area loss in the Greater Caucasus between 2000 and 2020
AU - Tielidze, Levan G.
AU - Nosenko, Gennady A.
AU - Khromova, Tatiana E.
AU - Paul, Frank
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support. This study is financially supported by the
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s).
PY - 2022/2/10
Y1 - 2022/2/10
N2 - An updated glacier inventory is important for understanding glacier behaviour given the accelerating glacier retreat observed around the world. Here, we present data from a new glacier inventory for two points in time (2000, 2020) covering the entire Greater Caucasus (Georgia, Russia, and Azerbaijan). Satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel, SPOT) was used to conduct a remote-sensing survey of glacier change. The 30ĝm resolution Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM; 17 November 2011) was used to determine aspect, slope, and elevations, for all glaciers. Glacier margins were mapped manually and reveal that in 2000 the mountain range contained 2186 glaciers with a total glacier area of 1381.5ĝ±ĝ58.2ĝkm2. By 2020, the area had decreased to 1060.9ĝ±ĝ33.6ĝkm2 a reduction of 23.2ĝ±ĝ3.8ĝ% (320.6ĝ±ĝ45.9ĝkm2) or -1.16ĝ%yr-1 over the last 20 years in the Greater Caucasus. Of the 2223 glaciers, 14 have an area >ĝ10ĝkm2, resulting in the 221.9ĝkm2 or 20.9ĝ% of total glacier area in 2020. The Bezengi Glacier with an area of 39.4ĝ±ĝ0.9ĝkm2 was the largest glacier mapped in the 2020 database. Glaciers between 1.0 and 5.0ĝkm2 accounted for 478.1ĝkm2 or 34.6ĝ% in total area in 2000, while they accounted for 354.0ĝkm2 or 33.4ĝ% in total area in 2020. The rates of area shrinkage and mean elevation vary between the northern and southern and between the western, central, and eastern Greater Caucasus. Area shrinkage is significantly stronger in the eastern Greater Caucasus (-1.82ĝ%yr-1), where most glaciers are very small. The observed increased summer temperatures and decreased winter precipitation along with increased Saharan dust deposition might be responsible for the predominantly negative mass balances of Djankuat and Garabashi glaciers with long-term measurements. Both glacier inventories are available from the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) database and can be used for future studies.
AB - An updated glacier inventory is important for understanding glacier behaviour given the accelerating glacier retreat observed around the world. Here, we present data from a new glacier inventory for two points in time (2000, 2020) covering the entire Greater Caucasus (Georgia, Russia, and Azerbaijan). Satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel, SPOT) was used to conduct a remote-sensing survey of glacier change. The 30ĝm resolution Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM; 17 November 2011) was used to determine aspect, slope, and elevations, for all glaciers. Glacier margins were mapped manually and reveal that in 2000 the mountain range contained 2186 glaciers with a total glacier area of 1381.5ĝ±ĝ58.2ĝkm2. By 2020, the area had decreased to 1060.9ĝ±ĝ33.6ĝkm2 a reduction of 23.2ĝ±ĝ3.8ĝ% (320.6ĝ±ĝ45.9ĝkm2) or -1.16ĝ%yr-1 over the last 20 years in the Greater Caucasus. Of the 2223 glaciers, 14 have an area >ĝ10ĝkm2, resulting in the 221.9ĝkm2 or 20.9ĝ% of total glacier area in 2020. The Bezengi Glacier with an area of 39.4ĝ±ĝ0.9ĝkm2 was the largest glacier mapped in the 2020 database. Glaciers between 1.0 and 5.0ĝkm2 accounted for 478.1ĝkm2 or 34.6ĝ% in total area in 2000, while they accounted for 354.0ĝkm2 or 33.4ĝ% in total area in 2020. The rates of area shrinkage and mean elevation vary between the northern and southern and between the western, central, and eastern Greater Caucasus. Area shrinkage is significantly stronger in the eastern Greater Caucasus (-1.82ĝ%yr-1), where most glaciers are very small. The observed increased summer temperatures and decreased winter precipitation along with increased Saharan dust deposition might be responsible for the predominantly negative mass balances of Djankuat and Garabashi glaciers with long-term measurements. Both glacier inventories are available from the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) database and can be used for future studies.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85125070064
U2 - 10.5194/tc-16-489-2022
DO - 10.5194/tc-16-489-2022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125070064
SN - 1994-0416
VL - 16
SP - 489
EP - 504
JO - The Cryosphere
JF - The Cryosphere
IS - 2
ER -
