Project number: AR/151/9-102/13

Project title: Glaciological Catalog of Georgia

Funding organization: Shota Rustaveli national Science Foundation of Georgia 

Start and end dates: 01.04.2014-01.04.2016

Principal investigator:Ramin Gobejishvili/ George Lominadze

Key personnel: G. Lominadze, L. Tielidze, N. Lomidze, G. Gaprindashvili, L. Asanidze, L. Gadrani

Project Summary: As a result of the research provided by the project, the existing glaciers in Georgia were studied and the exact number and area determined; The forecast of glacier dynamics was developed; The exact heights of the modern location of glacier tongues, morphological types, exposure and other glaciological data were determined; According to the river basins, a complete database of glaciers and geo-informational models were created;  A reconstruction of the process of glacier retreat for the last decades has been performed. For some large glaciers, animated maps have been created in geoinformation systems; A scientific article was prepared for publication in a highly rated foreign scientific journal; Based on the data obtained by comparing old and new aerospace images, it was possible to determine the dynamics of glaciers

Achieved results: Global warming during recent decades has had significant impacts on the world’s glaciers, which have experienced intensified ice mass loss induced by strengthened ablation, and thus thinning along with universal retreat and shrinkage Sincethe end of the 1950s until the middle of the 1970s, the glaciers were n a quasi-stationary state in most of the mountain areas in Eurasia. Now, the glaciers degrade in all mountain areas of Eurasia.Thisis reflected in the fact that smallglaciers disappear,the termin retreat, the area and volume of glaciers decrease, their surfaces are covered with moraines and large spaces of dea ice are being formed. Compound glaciers are broken into simpler components.