Rock glaciers, Zailiysiky Range, Kungei Ranges, Tienshan, Kazakhstan

Data Contributors

GORBUNOV, ALDAR P.
SEVERSKY, EDUARD V.
MARCHENKO, SERGEI
POPOV, MIHAIL V
TITKOV, SERGEI S

Parameters

ROCK GLACIERS

The Zailiyskiy Alatau is the northernmost parallel latitudinal ranges of the Northern Tien Shan. The highest point of this range is the Talgar peak (4973 m a.s.l.). The central part of the range is strongly glaciated; 380 glaciers of total area about 510 sq. km occur here. There are 504 rock glaciers in the Zailiyskiy Alatau Range. On the morphological signs, 429 of this amount of total area 49.77 sq. km are considered to be active. The best studied rock glaciers are concentrated in the central part of the northern slope of the Zailiyskiy Alatau in basins of the Bolshaya (Big) and Malaya (Small) Almatinka rivers. The investigations of rock glaciers of the Northern Tien Shan started in 1923 by geodetic observations of Russian glaciologist N.N.Palgov near the front of the Gorodetsky rock glacier (Zailiyskiy Alatau). The observations were repeated in 1946, 1960, 1977 and 1994 using the theodolite 2T2 of 1'' accuracy. (Gorbunov et al., 1994). The following parameters of each rock glacier were measured. Location (river basin, geographic extent); Type (morainic/lobate); Activity (active/inactive); Size (length, width), m; Area, sq. km; Orientation; Elevation of the source, m a.s.l.; Elevation of the front, m a.s.l. Since 1975, the investigations of rock glaciers of the Northern Tien Shan are carrying out by the Kazakhstan Alpine Permafrost Laboratory. In order to determine regularities in the distribution of rock glaciers, an inventory using aerial photographs and maps of 1 to 100 000 scale was carried out (Gorbunov, 1979, Titkov, 1988). These data are presented on the CAPS Version 1.0 CD-ROM, June 1998.

Data Citation

Gorbunov, A., E. Seversky, S. Titkov, S. Marchenko, and M. Popov. 1998. Rock glaciers, Zailiysiky Range, Kungei Ranges, Tienshan, Kazakhstan. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. Digital Media.