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The conducted studies allowed us to obtain a detailed picture of glaciation changes in the mountain regions of Russia, most provided with information about glaciers in the twentieth century. For the Caucasus glaciation, the data were obtained for the time periods 1911, 1952, 2000, 2014, 2018 and 2020; for Altai – for 1850, 1952, 2003 and 2018. For large glaciation nodes of the Central Altai – Katun, South and North Chuya Ridges additionally for 1968, 2008, and 2017. In both areas, a decrease in the area of glaciers since the beginning of the twentieth century and acceleration of the rate of reduction in the early twenty-first century have been revealed. The glaciers of the Caucasus and Altai reduced their size during this time by 46% and 48%, respectively. On average, in the twentieth century the glaciers of the Caucasus lost about 0.2% of the area per year, in the Altai – 0.15%, and in the early twentieth century 1.15 and 1.7% respectively. To study Kamchatka glaciers, we used data from the Glacier Inventory of the USSR (1950/1957) and images from different satellites in the period 2007–2019. The glaciers that were not previously registered in the Glacier Inventory of the USSR were identified. The greatest number of such glaciers is in the northern part of the Midnight Ridge, where out of 465 glaciers identified on modern satellite images, 216 were not included in the Glacier Inventory of the USSR. The area of glaciation in different regions of Kamchatka has changed extremely unevenly since the first cataloguing, which is associated with significant differences in glacier morphology. Glaciers of volcanic areas increased their size or remained stationary; here there is no tendency for glaciers to decrease due to the thick surface moraine consisting of volcanogenic material. Comparison of data from the Glacier Inventory of the USSR (as of the 1950s–70s) and the Glacier Inventory of Russia (2017–2019) shows a decrease in glaciation area from the mid-20th century to the end of the second decade of the 21st century in all mountainous regions of Russia except only the volcanic regions of Kamchatka. The area reduction ranges from 63% (Ural) to 13% (Kodar). The largest glacial systems of the Caucasus, Kamchatka and Altai have reduced their areas by 25, 22 and 39%, respectively.

The World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources was compiled from 1976 to 1993 by a team of 300people under the auspices of the USSR Academy of Sciences and UNESCO. The relationship within the large group of authors was governed by the Atlas Statute, approved by the Editorial Board. A special program for Soviet cosmonauts was created to collect materials in poorly studied high-altitude glacial areas. The maps prepared for the Atlas were discussed annually at special seminars, and a special trip of section editors and leading map authors to the high-mountain glaciers of the Pamirs was made to gain experience in map-making. Compilation work continued from 1976 to1993. The layout of the Atlas was prepared and the maps were printed in Minsk and Kiev. The Atlas was published in 1997 and in 2001 it was awarded the State Prize of Russia in the field of science and technology. 18years aſter its publication, an electronic version of the atlas was prepared. The World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources is an outstanding achievement of modern geography, cartography and glaciology.

Every year, about ten glaciers in the Western Pamirs are in the active stage of movement. The time from the beginning of the movement of kinematic waves along the glacier to the full completion of the pulsation takes, as a rule, 1– 2 years, and in some cases lasts up to 5 years. Activity of the Pamir glaciers in 2020 is discussed in this paper, and we suppose that some pulsations are still in progress in the following years. Data from a number of automatic satellite instruments were used for the analysis, but mainly these were obtained from the International Space Station. In 2020, 10 glaciers in the basins of the Surkhob, Muksu, Seldara, Kyzylsu and Vanch rivers became more active, and in some cases surged. Similar dynamic instability of glaciers was also characteristic for the preceding four years. At present, several major surges are taking place in the Western Pamirs; the Byrs, Vali, Lenin, and Medvezhy glaciers started the active phase of their developments. Therefore, it is necessary to study them by field methods and continue permanent monitoring of them from automatic satellites and the International Space Station.

Climate changes have influence on the thermal stability of permafrost soils. The assessment of its changes should be made taking account of the parameters of the snow cover and its thermophysical characteristics. A method for determining the thermal resistance of snow cover and the effective coefficient of thermal conductivity of snow based on ground temperature is proposed for areas of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation with negative ground temperatures. From data on ground temperature measurements at depths of 20 and 40 cm obtained from hydrometeorological stations, it is possible to estimate the heat flow from the ground into the snow cover and, at a known air temperature and snow depth, to calculate the thermal resistance of the snow and the effective coefficient of thermal conductivity. In this case, the obtained value of the thermal conductivity coefficient of snow will include all the features of the snow cover development by the time of measurement. To develop a method for determining the thermal resistance of snow cover and the effective coefficient of thermal conductivity of snow, numerical experiments were performed using a mathematical model, which allowed establishing the conditions for the applicability of the method. The paper presents results of calculations of the thermal resistance and thermal conductivity of snow cover made by the proposed method for winters of 2006/07 and 2009/10 in Yakutia for the snow cover of different thickness composed mainly by semi-skeletal and skeletal crystals of deep frost, reaching a diameter of 3–5 mm. The use of this method for the conditions of the Yakutsk with a known type of snow formation confirmed its effectiveness.

Results of modeling of the dynamics of the seasonally thawing layer in the twenty first century made for two polar points (the Svalbard Archipelago and the Antarctic Peninsula) are discussed in the paper. The loss of thermal stability of a permafrost is usually associated with the formation of non-merging layer that transforms then into a talik. This occurs when the seasonal thaw layer is not fully frozen due to a rise in air temperature and an increase in the snow cover thickness. Climate change (warming) causes an increase in the thickness of the seasonal thaw layer. From 2001 to 2018, the rise of summer air temperature at the Barentsburg weather station was about 0.05 °C/year, while in winter −0.21 °C/year, and at the Bellingshausen weather station (Antarctic) in the summer period a slight cooling was observed. On the island of West Svalbard in 1968–2000, the average daily summer and winter air temperatures were equal to +3.74 and −9.9 °C, respectively, while in 2001–2018 these values were significantly higher, especially in winter: +4.83 and −7.12°C, respectively. On the Antarctic Peninsula, similar values were equal to: +1.03 and −4.05 °C (1968–2000) and +0.83 and −3.60 °C (2001–2018). Calculations for the conditions of the Bellingshausen weather station did show that if the snow cover thickness exceeded 0.72 m (the average climatic value) but the average values of other parameters were not changed, formation of the non-merging permafrost became possible. With regard for a possible dynamics of the air temperature, the non-merging permafrost may be frozen through at the snow cover thickness lower 0.9 m. According to calculations for the conditions of the West Svalbard Island, it follows that when the snow cover thickness exceeds 1.5 m on the ground with its humidity higher 25% and the absence of moss cover, incomplete freezing of the seasonal thaw layer and the formation of non-merging permafrost becomes possible even at present time. Using data on rates of the air temperature rise and the regional model of the climate change, we show that at the soil moisture of 18% (it corresponds to measured values of air humidity) and the snow cover thickness of 1.5 m formation of a layer of non-merging permafrost may take place in 12 years, while at the thickness of 1 m – in 24 years.

The proposed annual bibliography continues annotated lists of the Russian-language literature on glaciology that were regularly published in the past. It includes 297 references grouped into the following ten sections: 1) general issues of glaciology; 2) physics and chemistry of ice; 3) atmospheric ice; 4) snow cover; 5) avalanches and glacial mudflows; 6) sea ice; 7) river and lake ice; 8) icings and ground ice; 9) the glaciers and ice caps; 10) palaeoglaciology. In addition to the works of the current year, some works of earlier years are added, that, for various reasons, were not included in previous bibliographies.

Quantitative indicators of changes in 37 glaciers of the Patagonian Northern and Southern glacial fields were determined by means of decoding and analysis of photographs obtained by astronauts from the Russian segment of the International Space Station. On the basis of this information it was concluded that in 2002–2016 the glaciers of both fields of Patagonia continued to retreat. The frontal parts of the nine glaciers retained their positions, while others reduced at an average rate of several dozen up to 430 m/year. Repeated monitoring of 16 glaciers from this selection and analysis of the data obtained in 2016–2019 confirm this conclusion. The only exception was the O’Higgins Glacier, which did not change position of its frontal part for 12 years and then retreated in 2018–2019 to 1,250 m. In some cases, a gradual decrease in area of the frontal part of the glacier was accompanied by a sharp collapse of the lower zone with the formation of extensive fields of icebergs. The dynamics of the Bruggen Glacier (Pius XI) are not typical for the region under consideration: for many years this glacier has been advancing. This development cannot be explained without detailed field investigation in the area of snow and ice accumulation of the glacier. Perhaps that was due to a snow-drift transport in an extensive area of accumulation that supported the preservation of the size of the glacier tongue, and even its advance. According to our observations, the average rate of retreat of the glaciers of the Western and Eastern slopes of the Southern Ice Field significantly decreased since 2010, i.e. their degradation slowed down. At the same time, glaciers of the Northern Ice Field continued to decrease intensively.

The article describes the formation and development of Soviet glaciology during the second half of the XX century and the role of the Glaciological Department of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences in this process. The Department of Glaciology had been organized in 1957 by outstanding Soviet scientist G.A. Avsyuk. During the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) Soviet glaciologists worked in Antarctica, on the Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as in the Polar Urals, where a permanent station was established and operated until disintegration of the Soviet Union. In succeeding years comprehensive field studies of glaciers were carried out in the Caucasus, in mountains of Central Asia and at Spitsbergen. Since 1961, the results were published in the periodical issues «Data of Glaciological Studies». In 2010, this edition was transformed into an academic journal under the title «Ice and Snow». Two years later, along with the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society became its co-founder. This is a quarterly journal.In the early 1960s, special Division of Glaciology had been organized in the Russian Geophysical Committee under Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and later on, members of this Department regularly organized All-Union (then All-Russian) glaciological symposia. These were held in different cities of the Soviet Union/Russia. A total of 16 glaciological symposia took place from 1961 to 2016. In addition, in 1970-80s the Department of Glaciology annually conducted school workshops on different areas of glaciology. In the 1970s, a program had been developed for continuous observations of the glacier fluctuations of three classes, differing in degree of detail; these works were carried out until disintegration of the Soviet Union. In 1965-1982, Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Hydrometeorological Service collected data to compile the USSR Glacier Inventory, and the Department of Glaciology of the Institute of Geography had organized for this purpose the Pamir expedition that carried out field investigations from 1968 to 1974. The USSR Glacier Inventory was the first one in creation of the world catalogue of glaciers, which had been completed at the beginning of the XXI century. In 1997, the World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources had been published; it was based on the whole complex of data available in the XX century on the state of the present-day glaciers. At the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, there comes a time of the space age, when the main sources of our knowledge about the Earth are the satellite images of different scales and properties.

The proposed annual bibliography continues annotated lists of the Russian-language literature on glaciology that were regularly published in the past. It includes 277 references grouped into the atmospheric ice; 4) snow cover; 5) avalanches and glacial mudflows; 6) sea ice; 7) river and lake ice; 8) icings and ground ice; 9) the glaciers and ice caps; 10) palaeoglaciology. In addition to the works of the current year, some works of earlier years are added, that, for various reasons, were not included in previous bibliographies.

The results of measurements of the ground freezing under a snow cover do not always agree with the calculations. The reason for this may be variability of thermal characteristics of the snow cover which properties depend on the landscape features. One of probable reasons may be also the incomplete contact between the snow cover and the soil. In autumn, the ground surface is usually covered with fallen leaves or withered grass. Estimates show that, in the presence of such layer on the soil surface, the air gap between snow and soil with the 1 cm thickness has a thermal protection capacity equal to the value of a 10‑centimeter thick layer of snow. Sometimes the presence of local gaps in the snow-soil interface can also be caused by other reason, for example, the spontaneous downfall of a depth hoar layer. The results of field measurements of snow cover characteristics, ground freezing depths and investigation of the contact conditions at the snow-soil interface carried out in different landscapes are presented. The results of mathematical modeling showed that when the air gap between snow and soil is taken into account the calculated values of depth of ground freezing are in a good agreement with data of the measurements. This consideration is especially important for small thicknesses of snow cover with high density and thermal conductivity. Numerical experiments did also show that the snow hardness is the necessary characteristic for analysis of the snow cover state. This provides more accurate estimating of the snow thermal conductivity that is closely connected with its hardness.

The results of experimental investigation of thermal conductivity of snow on the Svalbard archipelago in the conditions of natural occurrence are considered. The observations were carried out in the spring of 2013–2015 in the vicinity of the meteorological station «Barentsburg». The obtained data were processed using the Fourier equation of thermal conductivity that allowed determination of the coefficient t of thermal conductivity of the snow with different structure and density. The thermal conductivity of snow depends on the contacts between ice crystals. The larger the contact area, the better the heat transfer from one layer to another. But the strength characteristics of snow, and especially its hardness, depend on the bonds between ice crystals, so the thermal conductivity and hardness of snow depend on the structure of snow. Note, that measurements of snow hardness are less laborious than measurements of its thermal conductivity. For layers of snow cover of different hardness the relationship between snow thermal conductivity and its density has been established. To verify the reliability of the approach to the determination of snow thermal conductivity, numerical experiments were performed on a mathematical model, which did show good convergence of the results. The obtained formulas for the coefficient of thermal conductivity of very loose, loose, medium and hard snow (according to the international classification of seasonal snow falls) are compared with the data of other studies. It was found that when the snow density is within the range 0.15–0.40 g/cm3 these formulas cover the main variety of thermal conductivity of snow. This allows estimating the coefficient of thermal conductivity and to determine the thermal resistance of snow cover in the field by measuring the density and hardness of different layers of snow.

The proposed annual bibliography continues annotated lists of the Russian‑language literature on glaciology that were regularly published in the past. It includes 345 references grouped into the following ten sections: 1) general issues of glaciology; 2) physics and chemistry of ice; 3) atmospheric ice; 4) snow cover; 5) avalanches and glacial mudflows; 6) sea ice; 7) river and lake ice; 8) icings and ground ice; 9) the glaciers and ice caps; 10) palaeoglaciology. In addition to the works of the current year, some works of earlier years are added, that, for various reasons, were not included in previous bibliographies.

Changes of the glacier areas were analyzed. Rates of the area reduction of glaciers and glacier systems were compared over the course of the past 160 years as well as during shorter time intervals for the same period. On average for the whole period, the glacier areas decreased by a few tenths of a percent from the original in a year. Note, that this value was formed by rates for periods of the glacier retreating and advancing which were comparable by their intensities with rates from tenths of a percent to several percents of area in a year. In the first and the last thirds of the 20th century, when a rise of the air temperature decelerated, a number of advancing glaciers increased in both hemispheres. During these periods the same glaciers advanced (up to 25% of the total quantity of the investigated glaciers in the Alps). The second third of the 20th and the begin‑ ning of the 21st century were characterized by intensification of the temperature rise, and as the consequence of that, the number of advancing glaciers decreased, and rates of the area reductions increased over the whole globe. This dynamics was in a good agreement with the sea ice fluctuations in both, the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where the ice coverage increased in the 1960–1970 and in the second tenth of XXI century. So, decel‑ eration of the climate warming in that time was followed by increasing of the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice coverage and by deceleration of the area reduction of the mountain glacierization in some regions.

The modern age of global warming affect the general state of the Antarctic ice sheet and its mass balance. Studies of the Southern polar region of the Earth during the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958) called the assumption of growth in the modern ice mass in East Antarctica. However, with the development of new methods, this conclusion has been questioned. At the turn of the century the study of global processes Earth started to use the satellite radar or laser altimetry and satellite gravimetry, which allows determining change of different masses on the Earth, including ice bodies. From the beginning of the XXI century, these methods have been used to calculate the continental ice balance. In our study, we analyze different data of recent years, supporting the earlier conclusion on continued growth of the ice mass in East Antarctica. How‑ ever, in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, on the contrary, there is increased loss of ice, leveling the increased income of ice mass of in the Central Antarctica. So all in all in the modern era of global warm‑ ing, the ice mass in Antarctica appears to be decreasing despite some growth of the East Antarctic ice sheet. Fluctuations of land ice mass reflect in the sea level variations, but in comparison with the scale of the Ant‑ arctic ice sheet its contribution to sea‑level rise is not so significant. The main reason for this is that the mass accumulation in East Antarctica with significant probability prevails over the ice outflow.

The proposed annual bibliography continues annotated lists of the Russian‑language literature on glaciology that were regularly published in the past. It includes 245 references grouped into the following ten sections: 1) general issues of glaciology; 2) physics and chemistry of ice; 3) atmospheric ice; 4) snow cover; 5) ava‑ lanches and glacial mudflows; 6) sea ice; 7) river and lake ice; 8) icings and ground ice; 9) the glaciers and ice caps; 10) palaeoglaciology. In addition to the works of the current year, some works of earlier years are added, that, for various reasons, were not included in previous bibliographies.

In recent years, ground-penetrating radars are widely used for measuring thickness and liquid water content in snow cover on land and glaciers. The measurement accuracy depends on radio wave velocity (RWV) adopted for calculations. The RWV depends mainly on density, water content and structure of the snow cover and ice layers in it. The density and wetness of snow, and its structure can be estimated from data on RWV, using the available experimental and theoretical relations. Satisfactory results can be obtained using the Looyenga’s (1965) equations to estimate the density and wetness of snow cover, and equations of van Beek’s (1967) showing the distinction between RWV speeds velocities in snow cover and ice layers with different prevailing orientation and sizes of air or water inclusions.RWV in dry snow with density 300 kg/m3 may vary by 32 m/µs, depending on whether the vertical or horizontal orientation of the air inclusions prevails therein. In ice with density 700 kg/m3 effect of air inclusions orientation on differences in RWV is reduced to 5 m/µs. If the inclusions are not filled with air but with water, the difference in RWV in snow is 21 m/µs, and in ice is 24 m/µs. The RWV is affected not only by orientation of the inclusions, but their elongation. Twofold elongation of ellipsoidal air and water inclusions increases the difference in RWV in snow (with a density 300 kg/m3 ) to 23 m/µs and 22 m/µs.These estimates show a noticeable influence of snow structure on RWV in snow cover. The reliability of the above RWV estimates depends significantly on a thermal state of the snow cover, and decreases during snowmelt and increases in the cold period. It strongly depends on accuracy of measurements of the RWV in snow cover and its separate layers. With sufficiently high accuracy of the measurements this makes possible to detect and identify loose layers of deep hoar and compact layers of infiltration and superimposed ice, which is important for studying the liquid water storage of snow cover and a glacier mass balance. Therefore, considerable attention should be given to accuracy of the RWV measurements in dry and wet snow cover and its individual layers. With sufficiently high accuracy of measurements of the RWV, this should allow revealing such layers and estimating their thickness and average density.

A concept of the anthropogenic origin of the current global climate warming assumes that growth of concentration of the atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is of great concern in this process. However, all earlier performed analyses of the Antarctic ice cores, covering the time interval of several glacial cycles for about 1 000 000 years, have demonstrated that the carbon dioxide concentration changes had a certain lag relative to the air temperature changes by several hundred years during every beginning of the glacial terminations as well as at endings of interglacials. In contrast to these findings, a recently published careful analysis of Antarctic ice cores (Parrenin et al., 2013) had shown that both, the carbon dioxide concentration and global temperature, varied almost synchronously during the transition from the last glacial maximum to the Holocene. To resolve this dilemma, a special technique for analysis of the paleoclimatic time series, based on the wavelets, had been developed and applied to the same carbon dioxide concentration and temperature time series which were used in the above paper of Parrenin et al., 2013. Specifically, a stack of the Antarctic δ18O time series (designated as ATS) and the deuterium Dome C – EPICA ones (dD) were compared to one another in order to: firstly, to quantitatively estimate differences between time scales of these series; and, secondly, to clear up the lead–lag relationships between different scales variations within these time series. It was found that accuracy of the mutual ATS and dD time series dating lay within the range of 80–160 years. Perhaps, the mutual dating of the temperature and carbon dioxide concentration series was even worse due to the assumed displacement of air bubbles within the ice. It made us to limit our analysis by the time scales of approximately from 800 to 6000 years. But it should be taken into account that any air bubble movement changes the time scale of the carbon dioxide series as a whole. Therefore, if a difference between variations in any temperature and the carbon dioxide time series is found to be longer than 80–160 years, and if these variations are timescale‑dependent, it means that the bubble displacements are not essential, and so these advancing and delays are characteristic of the time series being compared. Our wavelet‑based comparative and different‑scale analysis confirms that the relationships between the carbon dioxide concentration and temperature variations were essentially timescale‑dependent during the transition from the last glacial maximum to the Holocene. The carbon dioxide concentration variations were ahead of the temperature ones during transition from the glacial maximum to the Boelling – Alleroud warming as well as from the Young Drias cooling to the Holocene optimum. However, the temperature variations were ahead during the transition from the Boelling – Alleroud warming to the Young Drias cooling and during the transition from the Holocene optimum to the present‑day climate.

In 1967‑2015, Institute of Geography of the USSR/Russian Academy of Sciences together with other organizations carried out field expeditions in different areas of mountain and polar glaciations in many regions: the Polar Urals, Caucasus, Pamir, Zailiysky and Jungar Alatau, Tien‑Shan, Pamir‑Alai, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Pyrenees, the Arctic – Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef and Severnaya Zemlya, and Antarctica – on the ice flow B, and in the sub‑Antarctic – Islands King George, Galindez, and Livingston. The gravimetric and ground and aerial radar observations were made in these expeditions. About 300 glaciers of different morphological types and sizes with cold, subpolar and temperate thermal regime were studied. Basic results of these studies are the following: (1) the new data on the ice thicknesses, ice volumes, subglacial relief, internal structure, and thermal state of the glaciers were obtained; (2) the two‑layered (polythermal) glaciers consisting of the upper layer of cold ice and the lower layer of temperate water‑filled ice had been revealed in Svalbard for the first time; spatial distribution of cold, polythermal and temperate glaciers had been determined; (3) the evidences were obtained that measured changes in thickness of the upper cold ice layer in polythermal glaciers can be used to estimate the long‑period variations of regional climates and serve as regional paleothermometers; (4) methods for estimating the water content in temperate and polythermal glaciers from the RES data were developed; and its space‑time variations in temperate ices of the Svaldbald glaciers were estimated since even small water content inside of them can noticeably change their dynamic behavior; (5) methods for estimating the ice volume within glaciers in large regions of mountain and polar glaciations had been created; the ice storages were estimated in Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Dzhungrsky Alatau, the Great Caucasus, and Mt. Elbrus; (6) detailed data on the ice thicknesses and the subglacial relief had been obtained for 40 glaciers in framework of different national and international programs and projects; the data can be used to solve a wide range of practical and theoretical problems, including numerical modeling. These studies demonstrated the following: (1) the use of monopulse radars VIRL‑6 and VIRL‑7 of decameter range (the central frequency is 20 MHz) with digital recording of the radar and GPS data is quite efficient for ground‑based and airborne (from helicopters) radio‑echo sounding of mountain and polar glaciers with their ice thicknesses up to 500–600 m; (2) it was found that thicknesses of glaciers in the Caucasus and Tien Shan can reach 330–430 m, while in regions of mountain, ice‑sheet and transitional glaciation on the Spitsbergen Archipelago – 300, 560 and 600 m, respectively, on the ice caps of the Franz‑Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya – 450 and 813 m, and on King George and Livingston Islands (Sub‑Antarctica) – 330 and 500 m; (3) large parts of ice caps and outlet glaciers in Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya which beds were located below the sea level were found. Precisely these parts can be undergone quick shortening due to climate warming, and, thus, cause formation of icebergs making threats for ships and gas‑oil marine platforms in the Barents and Kara seas; (4) data of the measurements made possible to calculate volumes of a number of investigated glaciers and ice caps and to estimate the ice storages in large areas of mountain and polar glaciations (the Jungar Alatau, Great Caucasus, Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land); (5) decreasing of glacier volumes on the Franz Josef Land and some Spitsbergen glaciers for the last decades had been estimated. Analysis of the data obtained had shown that considerable part of polythermal glaciers in Spitsbergen belong to type of surging glaciers; they have the winter englacial runoff and form the near‑glacier icings. It allows considering such glaciers as dynamically unstable, predisposed to surges as well as possible sources of winter water supply and additional sources of paleoinformation about long‑period variations of regional climate.

A history of the subglacial lake Vostok that had been revealed near this Soviet Antarctic Station is briefly described in the paper. Three participants of the Soviet Antarctic Expeditions played a significant part in the history of the Lake discovery, and they were a navigator of polar aviation R.V. Robinson, a physicist I.A. Zotikov, and a geographer A.P. Kapitsa. R.V. Robinson was the first man who had indicated to evidence of a subglacial lake in contours of the glacier surface; I.A. Zotikov had substantiated a hypothesis of a subglacial melting in central regions of the Antarctic continent and possible presence of water bodies in depressions of the glacier bed; A.P. Kapitsa had obtained by means of seismic sounding the original reflections which were later interpreted as reflections from subglacial water layer. And lastly, in some time later, the Britain glaciologist G. Robin had performed the thorough radio sounding in the vicinity of the Vostok station and finally proved existence of a large subglacial water body in this region. Further on, the lake was investigated by many participants of the Russian Antarctic Expeditions, as well as by scientists from the Britain Scott Institute and members of the American Antarctic Expeditions. Now this is the largest and the mostly studied subglacial lake in the Antarctica among almost 400 similar lakes revealed under the ice sheet.

Based on data of measurements in deep ice boreholes, as well as of radar and space geodetic observations in Antarctica and Greenland, a number of new features of the ice mass transport had been revealed. Note that these features do not correspond to the traditional but still hypothetical notions (ideas) of the monotonous and uniform spatial changes in the ice sheet dynamics. Using results of the long-term monitoring of the borehole coordinate axes at the Vostok station (down to 1920 m), east profile Vostok – Vostok 1 – Pionerskaya – Mirny (1409 km, down to the depth of 450 m), and analysis of radar sections, Russian specialists revealed the following: a) the Antarctic ice sheet has stratified changes in speed and a fan-like change in the flow direction along the depth; b) plastic firn layer has individual parameters of dynamics and actually flows down from more monolithic body of the ice sheet (the flow directions differ by 30–80°); c) in some places inside the sheet, the underlying ice masses flow faster than the upper ones. Researchers from the United States and Denmark registered on the radar sections of the lowest third of the ice domes in the central regions of the Antarctica (AGAP) and Greenland (NEEM) some folded structures, which were not typical of ice sheets (vertical amplitude of the folds is about 400 m, inclination of the wings is about 45 degrees or more). The tectonic analysis we have performed allows making a conclusion that a genesis of these ice structures is identical to the diapir folds and to diapirs which are formed at a displacement of lower plastic ice masses by the upper monolithic ones, or to echelon folds of crumpling of lower ice layers at their faster flow along original bed as compared with the overlying ice mass. This makes possible to suggest that a turbulent ice flow can occur in the spacious near-bottom and the most plastic area, and a model of the ice sheet dynamics is considered as extruding of underlying masses by the overlying ones. Specialists of the United States analyzed results of the radar interferometry obtained from satellites of Canada, the US, Europe, and Japan (RADARSAT-1, 2; Envisat ASAR; ERS-1/2; ALOS PALSAR) and determined a velocity of the flow of the day surface of the Antarctic ice sheet. They constructed a map of the 3D-structure of the ice flows and had revealed that the dominating ice diffluence from the central area down to the coastal zone is in a complicated way composed by many local streams. We conducted the morphological analysis and made the conclusion that these flows interact to one another under conditions of the strong differentiation of a surface inclination of the ice flow moving down along the mountain relief of original bedrock, and this process is similar to a merging of glaciers with individual characteristics due to different ice-catchments.

The proposed annual bibliography continues annotated lists of the Russian-language literature on glaciology that were regularly published in the past. It includes 271 references grouped into the following ten sections: 1) general issues of glaciology; 2) physics and chemistry of ice; 3) atmospheric ice; 4) snow cover; 5) avalanches and glacial mudflows; 6) sea ice; 7) river and lake ice; 8) icings and ground ice; 9) the glaciers and ice caps; 10) palaeoglaciology. In addition to the works of the current year, some works of earlier years are added, that, for various reasons, were not included in previous bibliographies.

This article describes a history of revealing the Antarctic sub-glacialLakeVostokas well as organization and further progress of the Soviet/Russian deep drilling project in the Central Antarctica, and, thus, the long-standing cooperation between USSR/Russia,Franceand theUSAunder this project. The works lasted for several decades and were successfully completed with penetration into the lake that should be recognized as major achievement in the field of the Earth sciences in the early XXI century.

Characteristics of the Altai glacier system are analyzed on the data from Chinese and Former Soviet Union glacier inventories. Two glacier data sets, recent remote sensing data and the glacier inventories data were compared. It has been found that 208 glaciers disappeared and the glacial area decreased by 12%. Functional models of the glacier system variations have been developed using the equation of relationship between an annual glacier ablation and a mean summer temperature; the glacier system structure and behavior of the equilibrium line altitudes at the steady state were taken into account as well. The models were used to study response of the glacial runoff to a climatic change. The model results show that, under the climate warming scenario of 0.05°С/year, only 3% Altai glaciers inChinaand 9% inRussiawill remain by the end of this century.

This bibliography includes 294 books and articles published mostly in 2010. Annotated books and articles relate to ten thematic sections of glaciology:1. General problems of glaciology2. Physics and chemistry of ice3. Ice in atmosphere4. Snow cover5. Snow avalanches and glacial mudflows6. Sea ice7. River and lake ice8. Icings and ground ice9. Glaciers and ice sheets10. Paleoglaciology

Progress in understanding cascades of subglacial lakes inAntarcticaand surface dynamics was derived using satellite laser altimetry measurements ICESat. The morphological and dynamical pattern troughs and swells indicate subglacial lakes and positions of their shorelines. Oscillations of surfaces in transition zones are periodic, while the changes in surface elevation above subglacial lakes are random. Elevation change in cascade occurs out of phase. The standard deviation for elevation for transition zones is100 cm, in contrast to10 cmabove the subglacial lakes. Complete insight into the cascade process and fluctuations of surface above the adjacent lakes in space and time has been derived using spectrogram. The pattern of surface displacements above cascades of subglacial lakes inAntarcticaand their transition zones are similar. In the sense of technology, the paper initiates the method of mapping subglacial lakes based on satellite laser measurements of elevation.

One of the, Glaciological descriptions of Greenland and Antarctica were among the most outstanding events in the geographical investigations of the Earth, made in the 20th century. They have shown that glaciations, traces of which were found in Europe and North America in the first half of the 19th century, waxed and waned during the Pleistocene repeatedly and were synchronous with the expansions and reductions of the Antarctic ice sheet. Further analyses of the sea-bed sediments confirmed the fact of such synchronicity, and revealed that the durations of the Pleistocene glacial cycles (on the order of one hundred thousand years) were significantly longer then approximately forty thousand years alternations of the warm and cold climate conditions during the preceding Pliocene. In this paper, using wavelets, and methods of the theory of the nonlinear dynamical systems, patterns of the Pleistocene’s and Pliocene’s cyclic variations of climate are compared with each other, to understand the mechanisms which can be responsible for their excitation and evolution.

The surge of the Bivachny Glacier that occurred in 2012–2015 is analyzed with the use of photographing performed from International Space Station in 2001–2015 together with data of the satellite monitoring of 1972–2000. This surge happened in 31 years after the similar previous event of 1972–1976. Dynamics of numerous glacier branches causing activation of the lower glacier part that is so called “dead” zone (more than 7 km in length) is shown. Just before its stop the front part of the surging glacier had reached the main trunk of the Fedchenko Glacier.

The history of studies of ten mountain glacier systems in Russian Subarctic is analyzed in the paper (Fig. 1). The intensity of these systems reduction and the vertical extent of glaciers during last 150 and 50 years are compared with the climate warming in this part of Russia, the map of accumulation–ablation on glaciers of this region is given (Fig. 3). Very quick reaction of the glacier surface to climatic changes is shown. The precision of glaciers’ size during 1960–1980 and 2000 are estimated and suggestion for future monitoring of glaciers size is made.

The article provides phenomenological and experimental arguments that ice sheet surface fluctuation in Antarctica is mediated by ice velocity and subglacial water flow. To understand this link we use temporal coherence to refer to the comparison between vertical profile and a shifted profile along the repeat ICESat track. A profile shift due to ice velocity is determined from cross-correlation between initial and shifted profiles. Ice velocity induced fluctuation in surface elevation and deformation of the vertical profile. The degree of coherence indicates a decrease in similarity of moving vertical profiles and their deformation. The water flow beneath the ice sheet and over the subglacial lakes generates irregular rise and fall of the surface. Observations in area of Dome A and its slope have revealed such behavior of surface, where the surface is placid and ice velocity is measly 2–5 m/y.

The paper presents results of monitoring of the Medvezhiy Glacier state for the period from its surge of 2001 to the last pulsation of 2011. This monitoring is performed based on the photographing made from the Russian section of the International Space Station. Features, used for prediction of the glacier last movement, are pointed out. The earlier determined characteristic property of the Medvezhiy Glacier change from a phase of recovering to that of its fast movement has been substantiated. Mean period of the glacier pulsations, estimated from observations for the last century, is 13.5 years. A surge of the glacier left tributary is recognized.

The annotated bibliography of Russian glaciological literature in 2011

Glaciological Symposium in Novosibirsk

The paper tells a story how the “blank spot” at the Pamirs center was puzzled out. In 1878, a small party of explorers headed by V.D. Oshanin had found here a big glacier about 30–40 km long and named it for Fedchenko. In 1884–85, known investigator G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo made his important proposal about orographic structure of the Pamirs central part. In 1890, expedition headed by topographer N.I. Kosinenko investigated the lower part of the Fedchenko Glacier and, for the first time, saw a separate high peak. In 1916, astronomer Ya.I. Belyaev had put on a map a great pyramidal summit but he had mistaken it for the Garmo Peak well known to local Tadzhiks (Fig. 2).In 1927, N.L. Korzhenevsky published a chart of arrangement of ridges near sources of the river Muksu (Fig. 3) that became a basis for work of the Tadzhik-Pamir expedition of 1928–1932. In 1928, Ya.I. Belyaev determined a true length of the Fechenko Glacier that was 70 km, and geodesist I.G. Dorofeevmapped the whole basin of this glacier (Fig. 4) including also a high irregular truncated pyramid of 7495 m in height (as he believed). But earlier this summit was identified as known the Garmo Peak. And only in 1932, it was established that definitions made by Dorofeev in 1928 were related to this highest peak of the Pamirs and also of the whole Soviet Union. The chart of real Central Pamir orography constructed by I.G. Dorofeev is presented in the paper together with his letter addressed to the author (Fig. 5).Thus, the “Garmo peaks” which were observed by the above mentioned explorers were actually three different summits. One of them does tower on the north of the “knot being puzzled out” and reaches 7495 m, and namely this “one-tooth” peak was repeatedly seen by N.V. Krylenko from valleys Gando and Garmo. It was named then the Stalin peak, and later – the peak of Communism. Another one is located in 18 km southward, and this peak is actually the true Garmo Peak 6595 m high known to local Tadzhik people. And the third summit is located between the two others, it is the Belyaev Peak 6852 m high that once Ya.I. Belyaev, and next N.L. Korzhenevsky confused as the Garmo Peak.So, at the beginning of 1930s, orography of the Central Pamirs had been finally ascertained. A group of distinguished well-known scientists and travelers of the first third of 20th century (Fig. 7) participated in this outstanding investigation that was followed by a number of geographical discoveries. And, the highest peak of the Pamirs does now bear the name Ismoil Somoni (Fig. 8).

100 years ago, in 1913, there was committed last geographical discovery of world importance in the Russian Arctic. Icebreaking transports «Taimyr» and «Vaygach» discovered and photographed the eastern and southern shores of the unknown land separating the Kara and Laptev seas. Boris Vilkitski Strait was opened by the north of Taimyr Peninsula as well as two small islands. Coast of the newly discovered lands received a legal name «Emperor Nicholas II Land», one of the islands was named in honor of the heir of the monarch – Tsarevich Alexei. After 1924 there was introduced the common name for a geographic feature – «Severnaya Zemlya» (North Land). Since 1926, the name «Emperor Nicholas II Land» was removed for political reasons. North shore land remained anonymous until now. In world practice (on the map of Greenland, Antarctica) the description of shores by the names of monarchs shores coexist with the common name of the main geographical object. In 1930–1932 a full examination of Severnaya Zemlya was carried out by Ushakov–Urvantsev expedition. There was found that an archipelago consists of several islands. «Not-simultaneous» shore opening and land surveying all over the archipelago led to divergent assessments of the events and facts.Preservation of historic names as a cultural and historical heritage, the inadmissibility of the historical names abolition are supported by the acting Russian Federation Law on the names of geographic features. The authors emphasize the need to return to the historical names with the application of national legislation and with justification of solutions Russian Arctic toponymy problems from international practices.

On the instructions of President and Government of the Russian Federation, works for development of National Atlas of Arctic are started in the country. In this article the authors present their ideas from viewpoint of geographers who are well experienced in the field of cartographic works. A structure of future Atlas and lines of approaches to its development are proposed. The totality of experiences of preparation of other geographical atlases in both, the USSR and Russia, as well as the latest achievements of cartography, aerospace sources and GIS-technologies are recommended to be used. The National Atlas of Arctic is understood as a collection of knowledge of spatial-temporal information about geographical, ecological, economic, historical-ethnographic, cultural and social features of the Arctic. This cartographic model of the territory is designed for using in a wide range of scientific, managing, economic, defensive and social activities. A hard copy of the atlas is intended to be used as scientific-reference publication while its electronic version will make it possible to renovate its content and to improve it by means of actualization according to various directions of its practical use 16 sections proposed in a draft of the Atlas content are as follows: introductory, geological structure, relief, mineral resources, environment evolution, climate, land waters, seas, seashores, snow cover, glaciers, permafrost, soils, flora and fauna, state of the environment and the Nature protection, population, economics, and prospects for future. The popular-scientific edition of the Atlas is intended for use by wide circle of readers and also as a textbook for all levels of education. Presentation of material in the Atlas should combine a high scientific level and accessible language. In a popular form it will clarify traditions of careful treatment to the Nature and the nature-protective ethics of religious confessions of local people. Touristic maps will serve as guides for the Arctic with its bio-landscape and cultural diversity. Content of the Atlas should meet requirements of education standard in the field of geography. Ten sections are proposed for this version of the Atlas: introductory, geological structure, relief and resources, climate, permafrost and glaciers, land waters, seas of the Russian part of the Arctic, its flora and fauna, soils, population and economics, and conclusion Scientific and social results of the Atlas publication together with editorial and advertizing effects are demonstrated. Proposals for a format, scales of maps and type of edition are given, and potential participants of this project are indicated.

Charles Swithinbank(17.11.1926 – 27.05.2014)