Case study of a glacial Budget – the Obruchev Cirque Glacier, the

Ural mountains

Obruchev Glacier is located in the Polar Urals. It is a typical temperate cirque glacier and it covers an area of 0.3 km2. The glacier is 0.9 km long. The altitude is ranging from 397 m (in 1981) to 650 m a.s.l. The mean ELA is located at 520 m a.s.l. The glacier has a maximum depth of 120 m. The velocity of the ice movement is up to 6 m per year. Between 1960 and 1981 Institute of Geography of USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences) carried out complex glaciological investigations every year semi-stationary (summer). Most of them were early measurements of winter and net (at the end of the ablation season) mass balance using poles and snow measuring probes.

Obruchev Glacier (67°38'N, 65°48'E)

Complete the data exercise on the Obruchev Glacier

-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 200 250400

450

500

550

600f(x) = − 0.363373762393363 x + 524.571201732476R² = 0.814042476737649

Chart comparing the height of the equilibrium line and annual balance,

for the Obruchev Glacier, Russia

Net Balance (gr/cm2)Heig

ht

of

eq

uilib

riu

m lin

e

(m)

660-650

650-600

600-550

550-500

500-450

450-400

400-390

-150

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

Net balance for the Obruchev glacier at different heights

Height (m)

Net

Bala

nce

Plot the losses and gains onto your diagram of the glacier

660-650

650-600

600-550

550-500

500-450

450-400

400-390

-200

-100

0

100

200

Net balance for the Obruchev glacier at dif-ferent heights

Height (m)

Net

Bala

nce

What have we discovered this lesson?