The status of individual glaciers is still poorly documented in Georgian Caucasus. A new paper sheds light on individual glacier changes in this region, revealing changes of the Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers between 1960-2014.

The authors of the paper ‘A 54-year record of changes at Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers, Georgian Caucasus, observed from archival maps, satellite imagery, drone survey, and ground-based investigation’ reconstructed glacier parameters using archival topographic maps, Satellite images, modern field investigation. Aerial photogrammetric survey for both glacier termini was also performed using a drone, a first for the Georgian Caucasus.

They discovered area loss since 1960 in both glaciers and a rise in the equilibrium line altitudes, responses to regional warming in surface air temperature over the last several decades. The authors also found that summertime air temperatures control glacier loss in the Georgian Caucasus. Among their findings include an increase in both the duration of the melt season as well as the supra-glacial debris cover for both glaciers.

“The deglaciation will have important consequences for the management of water resources and hydropower generation in Georgia. Future trends of glacier change are thus a topic of considerable interest to the region,” says lead author Levan Tielidze.

Read the Article


Citation

TielidzeL. G., SvanadzeD., GadraniL., AsanidzeL., WheateR. D., & Hamilton †G. S. (2020). A 54-year record of changes at Chalaati and Zopkhito glaciers, Georgian Caucasus, observed from archival maps, satellite imagery, drone survey and ground-based investigation. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin, 69(2), 175-189.       https://doi.org/10.15201/hungeobull.69.2.6

Image by Levan Tielidze.

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