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Glacial geomorphology of the Altai and Western Sayan Mountains, Central Asia
Robin Blomdin
ab, Jakob Heyman
b, Arjen P. Stroeven
b, Clas Hättestrand
b, Jonathan M. Harbor
ab, Natacha Gribenski
b, Krister N. Jansson
b, Dmitry A. Petrakov
c, Mikhail N. Ivanov
c, Orkhonselenge Alexander
d, Alexei N. Rudoy
e& Michael Walther
fa
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
b
Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
c
Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
d
Department of Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
e
Department of Geology and Geography, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
f
Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Published online: 11 Dec 2014.
To cite this article: Robin Blomdin, Jakob Heyman, Arjen P. Stroeven, Clas Hättestrand, Jonathan M. Harbor, Natacha Gribenski, Krister N. Jansson, Dmitry A. Petrakov, Mikhail N. Ivanov, Orkhonselenge Alexander, Alexei N. Rudoy & Michael Walther (2014): Glacial geomorphology of the Altai and Western Sayan Mountains, Central Asia, Journal of Maps, DOI:
10.1080/17445647.2014.992177
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2014.992177
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SCIENCE
Glacial geomorphology of the Altai and Western Sayan Mountains, Central Asia
Robin Blomdin
a,b∗, Jakob Heyman
b, Arjen P. Stroeven
b, Clas Ha¨ttestrand
b, Jonathan M. Harbor
a,b, Natacha Gribenski
b, Krister N. Jansson
b, Dmitry A. Petrakov
c, Mikhail N. Ivanov
c, Orkhonselenge Alexander
d, Alexei N. Rudoy
eand Michael Walther
fa
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA;
b
Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;
cFaculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia;
dDepartment of Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;
eDepartment of Geology and Geography, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia;
fMongolian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (Received 21 June 2014; resubmitted 5 November 2014; accepted 21 November 2014)
In this article, we present a map of the glacial geomorphology of the Altai and Western Sayan Mountains, covering an area of almost 600,000 km
2. Although numerous studies provide evidence for restricted Pleistocene glaciations in this area, others have hypothesized the past existence of an extensive ice sheet. To provide a framework for accurate glacial reconstructions of the Altai and Western Sayan Mountains, we present a map at a scale of 1:1,000,000 based on a mapping from 30 m resolution ASTER DEM and 15 m/30 m resolution Landsat ETM + satellite imagery. Four landform classes have been mapped:
marginal moraines, glacial lineations, hummocky terrain, and glacial valleys. Our mapping reveals an abundance of glacial erosional and depositional landforms. The distribution of these glacial landforms indicates that the Altai and Western Sayan Mountains have experienced predominantly alpine-style glaciations, with some small ice caps centred on the higher mountain peaks. Large marginal moraine complexes mark glacial advances in intermontane basins. By tracing the outer limits of present-day glaciers, glacial valleys, and moraines, we estimate that the past glacier coverage have totalled to 65,000 km
2(10.9% of the mapped area), whereas present-day glacier coverage totals only 1300 km
2(0.2% of the mapped area). This demonstrates the usefulness of remote sensing techniques for mapping the glacial geomorphology in remote mountain areas and for quantifying the past glacier dimensions. The glacial geomorphological map presented here will be used for further detailed reconstructions of the paleoglaciology and paleoclimate of the region.
Keywords: glacial geomorphology; paleoglaciology; Altai Mountains; Western Sayan Mountains; remote sensing
1. Introduction
The Altai Mountains in Central Asia (Figure 1) consist of a series of NW-SE trending ranges with elevations up to 4500 m above sea level (a.s.l.), alternating with intermontane basins
#2014 Robin Blomdin
∗