Climate, Modern Glaciation and River Network of the Northern Part of the Central and Eastern Caucasus

The Caucasus is located in the border zone of the spheres of influence of the moist air masses of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea on the one hand, and the dry continental spaces of the interior of Eurasia on the other, i.e. on the border of temperate and subtropical climatic zones. The North Caucasus belongs to the temperate zone (Milkov, Gvozdetsky, 1969). The mountainous relief of the Greater Caucasus determines the altitudinal zonality of the climate, which is expressed in changes in temperature and precipitation with increasing altitude: the amount of precipitation increases to 2500 m above sea level, then begins to decrease.