Turan Research Center

The journey from the weather station to the Kara-Batkak Glacier takes about four hours across rocky terrain and roaring rivers. The glacier sees few tourists, and the existing trails tend to be tracks created by livestock grazing on the slopes in summer. My solo trip took four hours, and just before arriving at the most turbulent river, a shepherd suddenly appeared to help me cross. Once majestic, Kara-Batkak in August is now blackened in places—a jolting sight.

The glacier’s name translates to “Black Mud,” a reference to the moraines that stain the meltwater. Water flowing from the glacier turns from clear blue to murky gray as it passes through layers of rock and sediment, creating the colored streams that locals see in the valleys below. Kara-Batkak is a medium-sized glacier located in the Terskey Ala-Too range of Kyrgyzstan’s Inner Tian Shan, south of Lake Issyk-Kul. It rises to elevations ranging from 3,300 to 4,400 meters. The glacier’s structure is complex, with terminal zones, steep icefalls, flat sections, and three drainage basins, reaching a maximum thickness of 114 meters and holding roughly 0.096 km³ of ice. Kara-Batkak feeds the Kyzyl-Suu River, sustaining agriculture and communities in the Issyk-Kul and Chuy regions.
Read the full article on Eurasianet.

Aigerim Turgunbaeva is a research fellow at the Turan Research Center.