Mass Balance Factsheet for the Tsentralniy Tuyuksuyskiy glacier, Tien Shan
This valley glacier in the Zailiyskiy Alatau Range of Kazakh Tien Shan is also called the Tuyuksu Glacier. It extends from 4219 m to 3478 m a.s.l., has a length of 2.6 km and a surface area of 2.3 km2 (2013) with
exposure to the north. Mean annual air temperature at the equilibrium line of the glacier in 2010 (around 3762m a.s.l.) was -6 °C for balanced conditions, and -5 to -6 °C in 2011 (ELA around 3800 m a.s.l.). Average annual precipitation as measured using 13 precipitation gauges for the balance year 2009/10 was equal to 1437 mm. For the balance year 2010/11, it amounted to 995 mm (14 precipitation gauges).
The glacier is considered to be cold to polythermal and surrounded by continuous permafrost.
A comparison of different approaches showed relatively good agreement between the glaciological and the
geodetic methods for the period 1958–1998 (Hagg et al., 2004).
For additional information on the status of the glacier and on data relating to annual mass balance and other measurements, visit the WGMS Fluctuations of Glaciers Browser.
FACTS:
- Political unit: KZ
- WGMS ID: 817
- Latitude: 43.05°N
- Longitude: 77.08°E
- Height min: 3478 m a.s.l.
- Height max: 4219m a.s.l.
- Measurement types: MASS BALANCE, THICKNESS CHANGE & FRONT VARIATION
- Current Principal Investigator: N. Kasatkin , K. Makarevich & Colleagues
- Current Sponsoring Agency: INSTITUTE OF GEOGRAPHY, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF THE KAZAKH REPUBLIC
Tsentralniy Tuyuksuyskiy glacier in August 2014 (taken by N.E. Kassatkin on 08/08/2014)
Terrestrial and satellite map of Tsentralniy Tuyuksuyskiy glacier (Google Maps)
Tsentralniy Tuyuksuyskiy glacier Annual Mass Balance (WGMS, 2016)
Continuous Mass Balance (MB) measurements since 1956/57:
Additional data available: Front Variation (FV), Thickness Change (TC) and Glacier Outlines:
