2026, Vol. 13, No. 2. - go to content...

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DOI: 10.15862/19NZOR226 (https://doi.org/10.15862/19NZOR226)

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Chernykh V.N., Sodnomov B.V., Ayurzhanaev A.A., Gurzhapov B.O. Icings of the Selenga Middle Mountains as a cryogenic resource and their potential for practical use. Russian journal of resources, conservation and recycling. 2026; 13(2). Available at: https://resources.today/PDF/19NZOR226.pdf (in Russian). DOI: 10.15862/19NZOR226

Icings of the Selenga Middle Mountains as a cryogenic resource and their potential for practical use

Chernykh Vladimir Nikolaevich
Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia
E-mail: geosibir@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9365-7340
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=766638

Sodnomov Bator Valeryevich
Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia
E-mail: sodnomovbv@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4099-7226
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=824336

Ayurzhanaev Alexander Andreevich
Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia
E-mail: aaayurzhanaev@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2282-7848
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=142121

Gurzhapov Bair Olegovich
Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia
E-mail: bair.gurzhapov@yandex.ru
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=1000431

Abstract. This study evaluates the potential for the practical use of icings in the Selenga Middle Mountains, the most economically developed and densely populated part of Western Transbaikalia. The number, spatial distribution, interannual variability, and other characteristics of icings were identified through the interpretation of Landsat satellite imagery. Based on these data, vector geodatabases and thematic maps were compiled. The results show that, depending on environmental and climatic conditions, the number of icings in the study area may reach 6.6 thousand, with a total area of up to 180 km². Ice-survey measurements were used to establish the relationship between icing area and volume. The estimated total volume of ice stored in natural icings within the Selenga Middle Mountains is at least 94 million m³.

The principal cryogenic resources associated with icings are ice and meltwater. The study examines both the opportunities and the limitations of using meltwater derived from icing degradation. Of the total number of mapped icings, 780 are considered potentially suitable for economic use because they form in intermontane basins inhabited and utilized by the local population. The main practical application of icing meltwater is irrigation of cultivated grasslands, hayfields, and other agricultural lands. Analysis of the first documented case of artificial icing accumulation in the region over the past decade indicates that this approach can increase icing area and meltwater volume by at least 45 %.

A second promising direction for the use of icings is tourism and recreation, in which ice itself constitutes the principal cryogenic resource.

Keywords: icings; groundwater; permafrost; cryolithozone; cryogenic resources; Selenga Middle Mountains; irrigation; tourism