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The glacial geomorphology of the Tian Shan has been mapped, with the study area covering almost 638,000 km2. The map, designed to be printed at A0 size due to the elongated shape of the mountain range, is presented at a scale of 1:1,100,000. Five glacial landform categories are presented; glacial valleys, marginal moraines, glacial lineations, hummocky terrain and meltwater channels. These landform categories were mapped using the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (90 m resolution), Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery (30 m resolution), and images contained in Google Earth. The mapped landforms were created by glaciers that were restricted to mountain areas and their immediate surroundings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleoclimatic constraints from regions at the confluence of major climate systems are particularly important in understanding past climate change. Using geomorphic mapping based on remote sensing and field investigations, combined with in situ cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al dating of boulders associated with glacial landforms, we investigate the chronology of past glaciation in the Inylchek and Sary-Dzaz valleys in the eastern Kyrgyz Tian Shan, a tectonically active area with some of the highest peaks in the world outside of the Himalayas. Cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al exposure ages of boulders on moraines record up to five glacial advances including: Lateglacial age lateral moraine remnants and meltwater channels in the upper Inylchek Valley; Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage [MIS] 2) moraines in the Sary-Dzaz Valley and in a terminal moraine complex at the west end of the Inylchek Valley, overriding older moraines; an MIS 4 or 5 moraine remnant above the Inylchek terminal moraine complex; and an older high moraine remnant down-valley from the confluence of the Inylchek and Sary-Dzaz valleys. The evidence for glacial extent in this study is consistent with a limited ice expansion hypothesis for Tian Shan glaciation. Published results from the western and central Kyrgyz Tian Shan do not show evidence for significant LGM glacier expansion, which in combination with the results presented here, indicate a spatial variation in glacier records along the Tian Shan. This may reflect either paleoclimatic gradients or the impact of local physiographic conditions on responses to regional climate change, or both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]