Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia

Levan G. Tielidze; Nino Lomidze; Lasha Asanidze

doi:doi:10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia

Levan G. Tielidze, Nino Lomidze, Lasha Asanidze

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 2)

Received: 14 March 2015 Accepted: 25 March 2015 Published: 31 March 2015

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Abstract

The dynamics of glaciers of Mestiachala river basin for the last century is revised in the paper. The percentage shrinking of areas of compound valley glaciers with the relation of air temperature is given. The retreat of largest glacier of Georgia Lekhziri and shrinking of its area is revised according to the years. The height gradient and correlation between the air temperature data of the only meteorological station (Mestia) of region and air temperature data of the glacier Chalaati in 2011 is determined. The time series of air temperature for Chalaati glacier in 1906-2011 are restored by the using of transfer function. The surface ablation of Chalaati glacier is also calculated. During the study we used a 1:42 000 scale topographic maps of the 19th century, which were drawn up during the first topographic survey by using the plane-table surveying method. Also, we used the catalog of the glaciers of the southern slope of the Caucasus compiled in 1911 by a well-known researcher of the Caucasus K. Podozerskiy, which is drawn up on the basis of the 19th century maps. In order to identify the area and number of the glaciers of the 60s of the 20th century, we used the work of R. Gobejishvili – the Georgian glaciologist of the 20-21st centuries, composed on the basis of 1:50 000 scale topographic maps of 1960. The data of 2014 have been obtained by the Landsat aerial images of L5 TM (Thematic Mapper) taken in August 2014. In the mentioned study, except of the old topographic maps and aerial images we use the climate information of the Mestia weather station.

Published in	Earth Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12
Page(s)	72-79
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Glaciers Dynamic, Remote Sensing, Glaciers of Georgia-Caucasus Mountains, Lekhziri and Chalaati Glaciers

References

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[2]	Zemp M., Haeberli W., (2014) Glaciers and Ice caps. p.116.
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[4]	Carrivick J. L., and Chase S. E., (2011) Spatial and temporal variability of annual glacier equilibrium line altitudes in the Southern Alps, New Zealand. New Zeal. J. Geol. Geophys., 54(4), 415–429 (doi: 10.1080/00288306.2011.607463)
[5]	Radic V. and Hock R. (2011) Regionally differentiated contribution of mountain glaciers and ice caps to future sea-level rise. Natur.Geosci., 4(2), 91–94 (doi: 10.1038/ngeo1052)
[6]	Marzeion B., Jarosch A.H. and Hofer M. (2012) Past and future sealevel change from the surface mass balance of glaciers. Cryosphere, 6(6), 1295–1322 (doi: 10.5194/tc-6-1295-2012)
[7]	Slangen A. B. A., Katsman C. A., Van de Wal R. S. W., Vermeersen LLA and Riva REM (2012) Towards regional projections of twenty-first century sea-level change based on IPCC SRES scenarios. Climate Dyn., 38(5–6), 1191–1209 (doi: 10.1007/s00382-011-1057-6)
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[12]	Dyurgerov M. (2003), Mountain and sub-polar glaciers show an increase in sensitivity to climatic warming and intensification of the water cycle, J. Hydrol., 282, 164–176.
[13]	Tielidze L. G. 2014. Glaciers of Georgia, Monograph. Publ. ,,Color’’ 254 p. ISBN 978-9941-0-6809-6 (in Georgian).
[14]	Kotlyakov V. M., Dyakova A. M., Koryakin V. S., Kravtsova V. I., Osipova G. B., Varnakova G. M., Vinogradov V. N., Vinogradov O. N. and Zverkova N. M. (2010) Glaciers of the former Soviet Union. In: Williams, R. S. Jnr and Ferrigno, J.G., (eds.) Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world - Glaciers of Asia: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386–F-4 (doi:1386-F-4)
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APA Style

Levan G. Tielidze, Nino Lomidze, Lasha Asanidze. (2015). Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia. Earth Sciences, 4(2), 72-79. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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ACS Style

Levan G. Tielidze; Nino Lomidze; Lasha Asanidze. Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia. Earth Sci. 2015, 4(2), 72-79. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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AMA Style

Levan G. Tielidze, Nino Lomidze, Lasha Asanidze. Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia. Earth Sci. 2015;4(2):72-79. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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@article{10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12,
  author = {Levan G. Tielidze and Nino Lomidze and Lasha Asanidze},
  title = {Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia},
  journal = {Earth Sciences},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {72-79},
  doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20150402.12},
  abstract = {The dynamics of glaciers of Mestiachala river basin for the last century is revised in the paper. The percentage shrinking of areas of compound valley glaciers with the relation of air temperature is given. The retreat of largest glacier of Georgia Lekhziri and shrinking of its area is revised according to the years. The height gradient and correlation between the air temperature data of the only meteorological station (Mestia) of region and air temperature data of the glacier Chalaati in 2011 is determined. The time series of air temperature for Chalaati glacier in 1906-2011 are restored by the using of transfer function. The surface ablation of Chalaati glacier is also calculated. During the study we used a 1:42 000 scale topographic maps of the 19th century, which were drawn up during the first topographic survey by using the plane-table surveying method. Also, we used the catalog of the glaciers of the southern slope of the Caucasus compiled in 1911 by a well-known researcher of the Caucasus K. Podozerskiy, which is drawn up on the basis of the 19th century maps. In order to identify the area and number of the glaciers of the 60s of the 20th century, we used the work of R. Gobejishvili – the Georgian glaciologist of the 20-21st centuries, composed on the basis of 1:50 000 scale topographic maps of 1960. The data of 2014 have been obtained by the Landsat aerial images of L5 TM (Thematic Mapper) taken in August 2014. In the mentioned study, except of the old topographic maps and aerial images we use the climate information of the Mestia weather station.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia
AU - Levan G. Tielidze
AU - Nino Lomidze
AU - Lasha Asanidze
Y1 - 2015/03/31
PY - 2015
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12
DO - 10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12
T2 - Earth Sciences
JF - Earth Sciences
JO - Earth Sciences
SP - 72
EP - 79
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2328-5982
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12
AB - The dynamics of glaciers of Mestiachala river basin for the last century is revised in the paper. The percentage shrinking of areas of compound valley glaciers with the relation of air temperature is given. The retreat of largest glacier of Georgia Lekhziri and shrinking of its area is revised according to the years. The height gradient and correlation between the air temperature data of the only meteorological station (Mestia) of region and air temperature data of the glacier Chalaati in 2011 is determined. The time series of air temperature for Chalaati glacier in 1906-2011 are restored by the using of transfer function. The surface ablation of Chalaati glacier is also calculated. During the study we used a 1:42 000 scale topographic maps of the 19th century, which were drawn up during the first topographic survey by using the plane-table surveying method. Also, we used the catalog of the glaciers of the southern slope of the Caucasus compiled in 1911 by a well-known researcher of the Caucasus K. Podozerskiy, which is drawn up on the basis of the 19th century maps. In order to identify the area and number of the glaciers of the 60s of the 20th century, we used the work of R. Gobejishvili – the Georgian glaciologist of the 20-21st centuries, composed on the basis of 1:50 000 scale topographic maps of 1960. The data of 2014 have been obtained by the Landsat aerial images of L5 TM (Thematic Mapper) taken in August 2014. In the mentioned study, except of the old topographic maps and aerial images we use the climate information of the Mestia weather station.
VL - 4
IS - 2
ER -

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Author Information

Levan G. Tielidze

Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State Uniersity. Tbilisi, Georgia
Nino Lomidze

Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State Uniersity. Tbilisi, Georgia
Lasha Asanidze

Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State Uniersity. Tbilisi, Georgia

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APA Style

Levan G. Tielidze, Nino Lomidze, Lasha Asanidze. (2015). Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia. Earth Sciences, 4(2), 72-79. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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ACS Style

Levan G. Tielidze; Nino Lomidze; Lasha Asanidze. Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia. Earth Sci. 2015, 4(2), 72-79. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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AMA Style

Levan G. Tielidze, Nino Lomidze, Lasha Asanidze. Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia. Earth Sci. 2015;4(2):72-79. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12

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@article{10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12,
  author = {Levan G. Tielidze and Nino Lomidze and Lasha Asanidze},
  title = {Glaciers Retreat and Climate Change Effect During the Last One Century in the Mestiachala River Basin, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia},
  journal = {Earth Sciences},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {72-79},
  doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150402.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20150402.12},
  abstract = {The dynamics of glaciers of Mestiachala river basin for the last century is revised in the paper. The percentage shrinking of areas of compound valley glaciers with the relation of air temperature is given. The retreat of largest glacier of Georgia Lekhziri and shrinking of its area is revised according to the years. The height gradient and correlation between the air temperature data of the only meteorological station (Mestia) of region and air temperature data of the glacier Chalaati in 2011 is determined. The time series of air temperature for Chalaati glacier in 1906-2011 are restored by the using of transfer function. The surface ablation of Chalaati glacier is also calculated. During the study we used a 1:42 000 scale topographic maps of the 19th century, which were drawn up during the first topographic survey by using the plane-table surveying method. Also, we used the catalog of the glaciers of the southern slope of the Caucasus compiled in 1911 by a well-known researcher of the Caucasus K. Podozerskiy, which is drawn up on the basis of the 19th century maps. In order to identify the area and number of the glaciers of the 60s of the 20th century, we used the work of R. Gobejishvili – the Georgian glaciologist of the 20-21st centuries, composed on the basis of 1:50 000 scale topographic maps of 1960. The data of 2014 have been obtained by the Landsat aerial images of L5 TM (Thematic Mapper) taken in August 2014. In the mentioned study, except of the old topographic maps and aerial images we use the climate information of the Mestia weather station.},
 year = {2015}
}

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