Pamirs – GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

Become a Member

19

Sep

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Habitat Corridors for Snow Leopards

High above the tree line, where scree slopes fade into cloud and silence, the snow leopard still moves. In Tajikistan, these elusive cats—Panthera uncia—are more than a symbol of wilderness. They are indicators of landscape health, a measure of whether the mountains still connect. Yet even the most agile climber cannot leap across fragmentation. As
Continue Reading
4

Jul

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Spatial Patterns of Earthquakes Over a Century

The story of Tajikistan is one of movement—not only of rivers and glaciers, but of the ground itself. Beneath the vast and folded mountains, the Earth never sleeps. Every year, hundreds of tremors ripple through the Gissar, Zarafshan, and Pamir ranges, some too faint to feel, others strong enough to shift rivers, destroy villages, and
Continue Reading
2

Jan

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Avalanches and Climate Change

Each winter, as the high valleys of Tajikistan disappear under snow, the country holds its breath. In the Pamirs and the Alay ranges, avalanches descend without warning, cutting roads, sweeping away power lines, and, every few years, claiming lives. They are among the most dramatic expressions of mountain geography—sudden, unpredictable, and amplified by change. For
Continue Reading
10

Aug

Climate & Glaciers

GeoSociety

Glacial Monitoring: Science on High Ice

At over 5,000 meters in elevation, the glaciers of Tajikistan look eternal. Their white surfaces crown the Pamirs and feed every major river that sustains life below. Yet to scientists who have spent decades measuring them, the ice no longer feels timeless—it feels fragile, restless, and receding. Glacial monitoring in Tajikistan is a story of
Continue Reading
13

Jun

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

High Pastures: Yak Herding in the Pamirs

High above the treeline, where the air thins and the land turns to stone and grass, the geography of Tajikistan takes on a slower rhythm. This is the world of the jayloo—the summer pastures of the Pamirs—and of the yak herders who still follow ancient routes through valleys carved by ice and wind. To outsiders,
Continue Reading
6

Apr

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Glacial Outburst Floods: Case Studies

In the high valleys of Tajikistan, glaciers are not static masses of ice—they are reservoirs under tension. They move, melt, shift, and sometimes fail. When they do, the result can be one of the most sudden and destructive phenomena in mountain geography: a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF. These floods, unleashed from moraine-dammed or
Continue Reading
10

Mar

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Snow Leopards: Apex Predator in a Changing Landscape

Snow leopards move like weather along the ridgelines of Tajikistan’s high mountains. You rarely see them, but you can read their passage in the landscape: a damp pad print on wind-scoured scree, the clean break of a hoof on a cliff where an ibex misjudged its leap, a string of scent marks on the only
Continue Reading
3

Mar

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Mountain Biodiversity Corridors: Linking Reserves

In Tajikistan’s mountains, biodiversity persists in unexpected places: along narrow valleys, across wind-swept ridges, and in the steep transition zones between ecological belts. These landscapes are more than isolated habitats- they form corridors that allow species to move, adapt, and survive in a changing environment. In recent years, scientists and conservationists have turned their attention
Continue Reading
9

Oct

Climate & Glaciers

GeoSociety

Glacial Permafrost Thaw in the Pamirs

High in the Pamirs, where the landscape folds into sharp ridges and cirques, ice is not confined to glaciers alone. Much of it lies hidden within the ground, frozen into the soil and rock. This is permafrost: a perennially frozen ground that has shaped Pamiri landscapes for millennia. Now, under a warming climate, that frozen
Continue Reading
10

Jun

Hazards & Safety

GeoSociety

Earthquake Memories: Oral Histories of Tremors

The earth moves quietly at first, almost imperceptibly. A low vibration, a shudder through walls and ground, then the sudden sway that makes people step into doorways or rush outside. In Tajikistan, earthquakes are part of life in a seismically active landscape where mountain-building and faulting shape not only geology but memory. For many communities,
Continue Reading