11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
[ACC28-10] Recent variability of glacial lakes and geomorphological conditions in the northern Tien Shan
Keywords:lake variability, debris landform, Tien Shan
To assess the current state of glacial lakes, we examine the seasonal variability of 339 glacial lakes in the Teskey and Kungoy Ranges of the Issyk-Kul Basin, Kyrgyzstan, during 2013–2016 based on optical satellite images (Landsat7 ETM+ and 8 OLI). The glacial lakes are classified into six types based on their annual variations in area: stable, increasing, decreasing, appearing, vanishing, and short-lived. We find that many appearing, vanishing, and short-lived types occurred in both mountain ranges, having a large variability that is not directly related to glacier recessions. The large lake variability over such short periods arises from regional geomorphological conditions and not directly from the local short-term climate variations.