GLACIERS OF ASIA

F–1. GLACIERS OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

By VLADIMIR M. KOTLYAKOV, senior author, with contributions from A.M. DYAKOVA (Siberia), V.S. KORYAKIN (Russian Arctic

 Islands), V.I. KRAVTSOVA (Caucasus, Altay), G.B. OSIPOVA (Tien Shan), G.M. VARNAKOVA (Pamirs and Alai Range), 

 V.N. VINOGRADOV (Kamchatka), O.N. VINOGRADOV (Caucasus), and N.M. ZVERKOVA (Ural Mountains and 

 Taymyr Peninsula) 

 With sections on FLUCTUATIONS OF GLACIERS OF THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS AND GORA EL’BRUS

 (With a subsection on THE GLACIOLOGICAL DISASTER IN NORTH OSETIYA, by VLADIMIR M. KOTLYAKOV, 

 O.V. ROTOTAEVA, and G.A. NOSENKO, INVESTIGATIONS OF THE FLUCTUATIONS OF SURGE-TYPE GLACIERS

 IN THE PAMIRS BASED ON OBSERVATIONS FROM SPACE, by VLADIMIR M. KOTLYAKOV, G.B. OSIPOVA, and

 D.G. TSVETKOV, and THE GLACIOLOGY OF THE RUSSIAN HIGH ARCTIC FROM LANDSAT IMAGERY, by

 J.A. DOWDESWELL, E.K. DOWDESWELL, M. WILLIAMS, and A.F. GLAZOVSKII

F–2. GLACIERS OF CHINA

By SHI YAFENG, MI DESHENG, YAO TANDONG, ZENG QUNZHU, and LIU CHAOHAI

F–3 GLACIERS OF AFGHANISTAN

By JOHN E. SHRODER, JR., and MICHAEL P. BISHOP

F–4 GLACIERS OF PAKISTAN

By JOHN E. SHRODER, JR., and MICHAEL P. BISHOP

F–5 GLACIERS OF INDIA 

By CHANDER P. VOHRA

 With an updated supplement on A STUDY OF SELECTED GLACIERS UNDER THE CHANGING CLIMATE REGIME

 By SYED IQBAL HASNAIN, RAJESH KUMAR, SAFARAZ AHMAD, and SHRESTH TAYAL

F–6 GLACIERS OF NEPAL — GLACIER DISTRIBUTION IN THE NEPAL HIMALAYA WITH COMPARISON TO THE 

 KARAKORAM RANGE 

By KEIJI HIGUCHI, OKITSUGU WATANABE, HIROJI FUSHIMI, SHUHEI TAKENAKA, and AKIO NAGOSHI

 With a supplement by YUTAKA AGETA

F–7 GLACIERS OF BHUTAN

By SHUJI IWATA

F–8 THE PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECORD PRESERVED IN MIDDLE-LATITUDE, HIGH-MOUNTAIN GLACIERS: 

 AN OVERVIEW OF U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RESEARCH IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE UNITED STATES

By L. DeWAYNE CECIL, DAVID L. NAFTZ, PAUL F. SCHUSTER, DAVID D. SUSONG, and JAROMY R. GREEN

SATELLITE IMAGE ATLAS OF GLACIERS OF THE WORLD

Edited by RICHARD S. WILLIAMS, JR., and JANE G. FERRIGNO

U . S . G E O L O G I C A L S U R V E Y P R O F E S S I O N A L P A P E R 1 3 8 6 – F

Landsat images, other satellite images, and other data are used to discuss the geographic distribution of 

ice caps, outlet glaciers, valley glaciers and other glaciers in Asia, and glaciological hazards in the 

Himalaya 

U N I T E D S TA T E S G O V E R N M E N T P R I N T I N G O F F I C E , W A S H I N G T O N : 2 0 1 0
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication 

is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government

Technical editing by Jane R. Eggleston

Illustrations by Ronald S. Spencer and James Tomberlin

Design and layout by Twila Darden Wilson

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

(Revised for vol. F)

Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world.

(U.S. Geological Survey professional paper; 1386)

Includes bibliography.

Contents:—Ch. B. Antarctica, by Charles Swithinbank; with sections on The “dry valleys” of Victoria Land, by Trevor J. Chinn, 

 [and] Landsat images of Antarctica, by Richard S. Williams, Jr., and Jane G. Ferrigno—Ch. C. Greenland, by Anker Weidick—

 Ch. E. Glaciers of Europe—Ch. F. Glaciers of Asia—Ch. G. Glaciers of the Middle East and Africa—Ch. H. Glaciers of Irian Jaya, 

 Indonesia, and New Zealand—Ch. I. Glaciers of South America—Ch. J. Glaciers of North America—Ch. K. Glaciers of Alaska.

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.16:1386-F

1. Glaciers—Remote sensing. I. Williams, Richard S. II. Ferrigno, Jane G. III. Series.

GB2401.72.R42S28 2010 551.3'12 87-600497

ISBN 978 1 4113 2609 5 

For sale by the U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services

Box 25286, Federal Center, 

Denver, CO 80225 
FOREWORD III

Foreword

On 23 July 1972, the first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS 1 or 

Landsat 1) was successfully placed in orbit. The success of Landsat inaugurated a new 

era in satisfying mankind’s desire to better understand the dynamic world upon which 

we live. Space-based observations have now become an essential means for monitoring 

changes in local, regional, and global environments.

The short- and long-term cumulative effects of processes that cause significant changes 

on the Earth’s surface can be documented and studied by repetitive Landsat and other 

satellite images. Such images provide a permanent historical record of the surface of the 

planet on a specific date; they also make possible comparative two- and three-dimensional 

measurements of change over time. This Professional Paper demonstrates the importance 

of the application of Landsat images to global studies by using them to determine the 1970s 

distribution of glaciers on our planet. As images become available from future satellites, 

the new data will be used to document global changes in glacier extent by reference to the 

baseline Landsat image record of the 10-year period 1972 to 1981.

Although many geological processes take centuries or even millenia to produce 

obvious changes on the Earth’s surface, other geological phenomena, such as glaciers and 

volcanoes, cause noticeable changes over shorter periods. Some of these phenomena can 

have a worldwide impact and often are interrelated. Explosive volcanic eruptions, such as 

the 1991 Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, eruption can produce dramatic short-term effects 

on the global climate. Natural or culturally induced processes can cause global climatic 

cooling or warming. Glaciers respond to such warming or cooling periods by decreasing 

or increasing in size, which in turn causes sea level to rise or fall.

As our understanding of the interrelationship of global processes improves and our 

ability to assess changes caused by these processes develops further, we will learn how to 

use indicators of global change, such as glacier variation, to manage more wisely the use of 

our finite land and water resources. This Professional Paper is an excellent example of the 

way in which we can use technology to provide needed earth-science information about 

our planet. The international collaboration represented by this report is also an excellent 

model for the kind of cooperation that scientists will increasingly find necessary in the 

future in order to solve important Earth-System-science problems on a global basis.

 Marcia K. McNutt

 Director

 U.S. Geological Survey

PREFACE V

Preface

This chapter is the ninth to be released in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, a series of 11 chapters. In each of 

the geographic area chapters, remotely sensed images, primarily from the Landsat 1, 2, 

and 3 series of spacecraft, are used to analyze the specific glacierized region of our planet 

under consideration and to monitor glacier changes. Landsat images, acquired primarily 

during the middle to late 1970s and early 1980s, were used by an international team of 

glaciologists and other scientists to study various geographic regions and (or) to discuss 

related glaciological topics. In each glacierized geographic region, the present areal 

distribution of glaciers is compared, wherever possible, with historical information about 

their past extent. The atlas provides an accurate regional inventory of the areal extent of 

glacier ice on our planet during the 1970s as part of a growing international scientific 

effort to measure global environmental change on the Earth’s surface.

The chapter is divided into seven geographic parts and one topical part: Glaciers of 

the Former Soviet Union (F–1), Glaciers of China (F–2), Glaciers of Afghanistan (F–3), 

Glaciers of Pakistan (F–4), Glaciers of India (F–5), Glaciers of Nepal (F–6), Glaciers of 

Bhutan (F–7), and the Paleoenvironmental Record Preserved in Middle-Latitude, HighMountain Glaciers (F–8). Each geographic section describes the glacier extent during the 

1970s and 1980s, the benchmark time period (1972–1981) of this volume, but has been 

updated to include more recent information.

Glaciers of the Former Soviet Union are located in the Russian Arctic and various 

mountain ranges of Russia and the Republics of Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, 

and Kazakstun. The Glacier Inventory of the USSR and the World Atlas of Ice and 

Snow Resources recorded a total of 28,881 glaciers covering an area of 78,938 square 

kilometers (km2).

China includes many of the mountain-glacier systems of the world including the 

Himalaya, Karakorum, Tien Shan and Altay mountain ranges. The glaciers are widely 

scattered and cover an area of about 59,425 km2. The mountain glaciers may be classified 

as maritime, subcontinental or extreme continental.

In Afghanistan, more than 3,000 small glaciers occur in the Hindu Kush and Pamir 

mountains. Most glaciers occur on north-facing slopes shaded by mountain peaks and on 

east and southeast slopes that are shaded by monsoon clouds. The glaciers provide vital 

water resources to the region and cover an area of about 2,700 km2.

Glaciers of northern Pakistan are some of the largest and longest mid-latitude glaciers 

on Earth. They are located in the Hindu Kush, Himalaya, and Karakoram mountains and 

cover an area of about 15,000 km2. Glaciers here are important for their role in providing 

water resources and their hazard potential.

The glaciers in India are located in the Himalaya and cover about 8,500 km2. The 

Himalaya contains one of the largest reservoirs of snow and ice outside the polar regions. 

The glaciers are a major source of fresh water and supply meltwater to all the rivers in 

northern India, thereby affecting the quality of life of millions of people.

In Nepal, the glaciers are located in the Himalaya as individual glaciers; the glacierized 

area covers about 5,324 km2. The region is the highest mountainous region on Earth and 

includes the Mt. Everest region. 

Glaciers in the Bhutan Himalaya have a total area of about 1,317 km2. Many recent 

glacier studies are focused on glacier lakes that have the potential of generating dangerous 

glacier lake outburst floods.

Research on the glaciers of the middle-latitude, high-mountain glaciers of Asia 

has also focused on the information contained in the ice cores from the glaciers. This 

information helps in the reconstruction of paleoclimatic records, and the computer 

modeling of global climate change.

 Richard S. Williams, Jr.

 Jane G. Ferrigno

 Editors
VI ABOUT THIS VOLUME

About this Volume

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers 

of the World, contains 11 chapters designated by the letters A through K. Chapter A 

provides a comprehensive, yet concise, review of the “State of the Earth’s Cryosphere 

at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Glaciers, Global Snow Cover, Floating Ice, and 

Permafrost and Periglacial Environments,” and a “Map/Poster of the Earth’s Dynamic 

Cryosphere,” and a set of eight “Supplemental Cryosphere Notes” about the Earth’s 

Dynamic Cryosphere and the Earth System. The next 10 chapters, B through K, are 

arranged geographically and present glaciological information from Landsat and other 

sources of historic and modern data on each of the geographic areas. Chapter B covers 

Antarctica; Chapter C, Greenland; Chapter D, Iceland; Chapter E, Continental Europe 

(except for the European part of the former Soviet Union), including the Alps, the 

Pyrenees, Norway, Sweden, Svalbard (Norway), and Jan Mayen (Norway); Chapter 

F, Asia, including the European part of the former Soviet Union, China, Afghanistan, 

Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bhutan; Chapter G, Turkey, Iran, and Africa; Chapter H, Irian 

Jaya (Indonesia) and New Zealand; Chapter I, South America; Chapter J, North America 

(excluding Alaska); and Chapter K, Alaska. Chapters A–D each include map plates. 

The realization that one element of the Earth’s cryosphere, its glaciers, was amenable 

to global inventorying and monitoring with Landsat images led to the decision, in late 

1979, to prepare this Professional Paper, in which Landsat 1, 2, and 3 multispectral 

scanner (MSS) and Landsat 2 and 3 return beam vidicon (RBV) images would be used 

to inventory the areal occurrence of glacier ice on our planet within the boundaries 

of the spacecraft’s coverage (between about 81° north and south latitudes). Through 

identification and analysis of optimum Landsat images of the glacierized areas of the 

Earth during the first decade of the Landsat era, a global benchmark could be established 

for determining the areal extent of glaciers during a relatively narrow time interval (1972 

to 1981). This global “snapshot” of glacier extent could then be used for comparative 

analysis with previously published maps and aerial photographs and with new maps, 

satellite images, and aerial photographs to determine the areal fluctuation of glaciers in 

response to natural or culturally induced changes in the Earth’s climate.

To accomplish this objective, the editors selected optimum Landsat images of each of 

the glacierized regions of our planet from the Landsat image data base at the EROS Data 

Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, although some images were also obtained from the 

Landsat image archives maintained by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Ottawa, 

Ontario, Canada, and by the European Space Agency in Kiruna, Sweden, and Fucino, 

Italy. Between 1979 and 1981, these optimum images were distributed to an international 

team of more than 50 scientists who agreed to write a section of the Professional Paper 

concerning either a geographic area or a glaciological topic. The total number of scientists 

who made contributions eventually reached 109. In addition to analyzing images of a 

specific geographic area, each author was also asked to summarize up-to-date information 

about the glaciers within the area and to compare their present areal distribution with 

historical information (for example, from published maps, reports, and photographs) 

about their past extent. 

The atlas provides a regional inventory of the areal extent of glaciers on the planet 

during the 1970s, a period of time, in restrospect (2010), that was cooler climatically 

than the increasingly warmer period that followed at the end of the 20th century and has 

continued into the first decade of the 21st century.

 Richard S. Williams, Jr.

 Jane G. Ferrigno

 Editors
ACKNOWLEDMENTS VII

Acknowledgments

The editors and authors want to thank the following individuals for reviewing 

parts of this report, USGS Professional Paper 1386-F, Glaciers of Asia. Reviewers are 

listed with their affiliation at the time of the review: Yutaka Ageta, Nagoya University, 

Graduate School of Environmental Studies; Vladimir B. Aizen, University of Idaho, 

Department of Geography; John T. Andrews, University of Colorado, Institute for 

Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR); Richard L. Armstrong, University of 

Colorado, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC); Yves Arnaud, Laboratoire de 

Glaciologie et Geophysique de l’Environment (LGGE), Institute de Recherche pour le 

Developpement (IRD), Grenoble; L. DeWayne Cecil, U.S. Geological Survey, Water 

Resources Discipline, Mark Dyurgerov, University of Colorado, Institute for Arctic 

and Alpine Research (INSTAAR); D.R. Gurung, Bhutan Department of Geology 

and Mines; Jon Øve Hagen, University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences; L. Flint 

Hall, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality; Gordon Hamilton, University of 

Maine, Climate Change Institute; Herman Häusler, University of Vienna, Center for 

Earth Sciences; Kenneth Hewitt, Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Geography 

and Environmental Studies; Jianli Song, USGS, Geologic Discipline, Woods Hole 

Science Center; Andreas Kääb, University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences; Ulrich 

Kamp, University of Montana, Department of Geography; V.I. Kravtsova, Moscow 

State University, Faculty of Geography; Robert M. Krimmel, USGS, Water Resources 

Discipline; Karl Kreutz, University of Maine, Climate Change Institute; Li Jun, National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center; Nozomu Naito, 

Hiroshima Institute of Technology, Department of Environmental Information Studies; 

Masayoshi Nakawo, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto; Mitchell A. 

Plummer, Idaho National Laboratory; Charles F. Raymond, University of Washington, 

Department of Earth and Space Sciences; John F. Shroder, University of Nebraska at 

Omaha, Department of Geography and Geology; Patrick Wagnon, Laboratoire de 

Glaciologie et Geophysique de l’Environment (LGGE), Institute de Recherche pour le 

Developpement (IRD), Grenoble.

The editors are also thankful for the generous assistance of Nora Tamberg, U.S. 

Geological Survey, who translated several Russian articles. 

CONTENTS IX

CONTENTS: Major Sections

Foreword-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------III

Preface---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------V

About this Volume-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------VI

Acknowledgments----------------------------------------------------------------------------------VII

F–1. Glaciers of the Former Soviet Union, by Vladimir M. Kotlyakov, 

 senior author, with contributions from A.M. Dyakova (Siberia),

 V.S. Koryakin (Russian Arctic Islands), V.I. Kravtsova (Caucasus, Altay),

 G.B. Osipova (Tien Shan), G.M. Varnakova (Pamirs and Alai Range),

 V.N. Vinogradov (Kamchatka), O.N. Vinogradov (Caucasus),

 and N.M. Zverkova (Ural Mountains and Taymyr Peninsula) -----------------F1

 With sections on Fluctuations of Glaciers of the Central 

 Caucasus and Gora El’Brus (with a subsection on 

 The Glaciological Disaster in North Osetiya), by Vladmir M. 

 Kotlyakov, O.V. Rototaeva, and G.A. Nosenko, Investigations 

 of the Fluctuations of Surge-Type Glaciers in the Pamirs Based

 on Observations from Space, by Vladimir M. Kotlyakov, 

 G.B. Osipova and D.G. Tsvetkov, and the Glaciology of the Russian

 High Arctic from Landsat Imagery, by J.A. Dowdeswell, 

 E.K. Dowdeswell, M. Williams, and A.F. Glazovskii --------------------F59

F–2. Glaciers of China, by Shi Yafeng, Mi Desheng, Yao Tandong, Zeng 

 Qunzhu, and Liu Chaohai----------------------------------------------------------F127

F–3. Glaciers of Afghanistan, by John E. Shroder, Jr., and 

 Michael P. Bishop --------------------------------------------------------------------F167

F–4. Glaciers of Pakistan, by John E. Shroder, Jr., and Michael P. Bishop ---------F201

F–5. Glaciers of India, by Chander P. Vohra ---------------------------------------------F259

 With an updated supplement on A Study of Selected Glaciers 

 Under the Changing Climate Regime, by Syed Iqbal Hasnain, 

 Rajesh Kumar, Safaraz Ahmad, and Shresth Tayal---------------------F275

F–6. Glaciers of Nepal — Glacier Distribution in the Nepal Himalaya 

 with Comparison to the Karakoram Range, by Keiji Higuchi, 

 Okitsugu Watanabe, Hiroji Fushimi, Shuhei Takenaka, and 

 Akio Nagoshi -------------------------------------------------------------------------F293

 With a supplement by Yutaka Ageta-------------------------------------------F317

F–7. Glaciers of Bhutan, by Shuji Iwata ---------------------------------------------------F321

F–8. The Paleoenvironmental Record Preserved in Middle-Latitude, 

 High-Mountain Glaciers: An Overview of U.S. Geological Survey 

 Research in Central Asia and the United States, by L. DeWayne 

 Cecil, David L. Naftz, Paul F. Schuster, David D. Susong, 

 and Jaromy R. Green ----------------------------------------------------------------F335