ICE DIVIDES AND DRAINAGE BASINS ON THE ICE CAPS OF FRANZ-JOSEF-LAND, RUSSIAN HIGH ARCTIC, DEFINED FROM LANDSAT, KFA-1000, AND ERS-1 SAR SATELLITE IMAGERY

Satellite imagery from the Landsat TM and MSS, Russian KFA-1000, and E RS-1 SAR instruments has been analyzed to define ice divides and basin s on the ice caps of the 16,130-km(2) Franz Josef Land archipelago, Ru ssian High Arctic. Photographic products from the Russian KFA-1000 cam era system provide the highest resolution satellite imagery (5 m) pres ently available of the archipelago. Over 900 km of ice divides have be en identified on the crests of these ice caps. The largest ice-cap dra inage basin in Franz Josef Land is that of Znamenity Glacier in Vilche k Land, at about 470 km(2). The ice masses on this island, Graham Bell , La Ronsier, Hall, and Eva-Liv islands, are relatively simple in surf ace topography and are underlain by relatively thick ice. On smaller i ce caps, where thinner ice is present, drainage basins are also inferr ed from the position of nunataks marking their boundaries. Mapping of major drainage basins on the ice caps of Franz Josef Land is a prerequ isite for detailed glaciological investigations in the archipelago, an d is complementary to existing Russian inventories of the main ice-cap outlet glaciers.