50 per cent in the last century with extreme melting and
abrupt decrease in area occurring in the period 1998–2001.
There has been considerable variability in the retreat of
Russia
mountain glaciers, as would be expected in so large a geo-
graphic area. In the North Caucasus glacier advances were
Arctic islands and
reported in the 20th century and in Kamchatka both advanc-
mountain ranges
es and retreats have occurred on glaciers of the Avachinskaya
and Klyuchevskaya groups of volcanoes, possibly connected
The following details on the glacier distribution and with volcanic activity. In other parts of Kamchatka there is a
changes in Russia are based on a monograph edited by general retreat with glaciers in the coastal Kronotsky penin-
Kotlyakov and others
112
. sula being most sensitive to climate change.
Russia’s glaciers and ice fields are concentrated in its Arc- Since the mid-19
th
century glaciers in the Altay have continu-
tic islands where their extent is about 56 000 km
2
. Glaciers ously degraded but the rate has slowed in recent years. Direct
are widely dispersed on mountain ranges from the Urals to mass balance measurements at Maliy Aktru Glacier show a
Kamchatka, with an extent of about 3600 km
2
reported in slightly negative mean annual mass balance (about –0.09 m
the period 1950–1970 (USSR Glacier Inventory). There is a water equivalent) over the period 1962–2005 (Figure 6B.14).
pattern of general retreat that is mainly at lower elevations
and southern latitudes that in some places is dramatic. For In some mountain ranges topographic changes have been
example, in the Arctic islands over the last 50 years there dramatic. In the Urals some glaciers have disappeared
has been a reduction of only 1.3 per cent of glacierized area completely and in the North Caucasus large glaciers have
whereas glaciers in the North Caucasus retreated by about been reduced to separated remnants.
Annual mass
balance (mm w.e.)
1 000
500
0
Figure 6B.14: Mass balance of Maliy Aktru Glacier, Russian
Altai. Measurements on this valley-type glacier in the North
-500
Chuyskiy Range show a slightly negative annual mass balance
trend culminating in an ice loss of about 4 m water equivalent
over the period 1964–2005.
-1 000
Photo: Y.K. Narozhniy (taken in July 1992); data from the World Glacier
1970 1980 1990 2000
Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland
CHAPTER 6B GLACIERS AND ICE CAPS 137
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