Glacier relief of the Kuznetsk Alatau southern part

Abstract

It has been revealed that forms of glacial landscape are widely spread in Tigertysh mountain junction (Kuznetsk Alatau). There are about 132 cirques. Their area is from 0,2 km² to 2,2 km². They are usually located one above the other, forming a kind of a stair widening at the top, with 2-4 altitudinal levels. The lowest level is occupied by the lakes with a basin of glacial genesis. The upper steps of cirques occupied by snowfields and glaciers are being formed at present time. Single cirques were formed in the places at low elevation but with heavy snow deposits. Peculiar feature of single cirques is their large size. Cirques with northeastern and northern exposure were rejuvenated by small glaciers and snowfields. They look younger in comparison with southern and southwest cirques. U-valleys are typical for northern slope of Tigertysh range. The average length of U-valleys is 4-6 km. U-valleys often end with ancient moraines, but the valleys of the rivers Karatas and Nizhnaya Tayzhasy have U shape lower terminal moraine complexes. Ancient moraines are widely spread here and clearly visible in the landscape. Four stage moraines of different age are found. They are not covered by loess. So we date moraine of the first stage as formed during the last glaciation maximum. After studying the lay out of old moraine complexes we found 56 glaciers with total area of 245,3 km² which had existed during last glaciation epoch. Moraines of the 2^nd and 4^th stages mark the position of the ends of glaciers in postglaciation time and Holocene. The four stages of moraines and stair-step structure of exarational landforms can witness about repeated and continuous glaciation of Kuznetsk Alatau.