Area and Mass Changes of Glaciers in the West Kunlun Mountains Based on the Analysis of Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Images and DEMs from 1970 to 2018

Abstract

Most of the world’s glaciers have retreated significantly against the background of recent climate warming, while reports have indicated that the glaciers in the West Kunlun Mountains (WKL) may be in a relatively stable state, although there are some gaps in previous research. Based on Landsat series data, topographic maps, SRTM and TanDEM-x data, this paper extracts detailed glacial area information and glacial mass balance during different time periods from 1970 to 2018. We found that, the total area of glaciers in the WKL decreased by 8.0 km2 from 1972 to 2018. The area decreased by 12.0 km2 from 1972 to 1991 and increased by 4.7 km2 from 2010 to 2018. Glacier surface elevation change results in the WKL showed that the overall glacier thickness slightly decreased from 1970 to 2016, with an average of 1.9 ± 1.0 m. The glaciers thinned by approximately 2.5 ± 1.0 m from 1970 to 2000, while from 2000 to 2016, the glaciers thickened approximately by 0.6 ± 1.0 m. Overall, the glaciers in the WKL showed very slight retreat. In addition, the mass changes of glaciers were affected by glacial surging.

Updated Surge‐Type Glacier Inventory in the West Kunlun Mountains, Tibetan Plateau, and Implications for Glacier Change

“…Similarly, the glacier surface elevation in this region thinned slightly from 1970 to 2000; and then, it thickened slightly after 2000 (Bao et al., 2015; Cao et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2018). Recent studies have revealed that the patterns of some of the glaciers in the WKM differ with those of others; for example, they display sudden frontal position advances and exhibit thickening and thinning at lower and higher elevations, respectively, and surface velocity increases (Cao et al., 2020; Ke et al., 2015). Such phenomena are most likely related to glacier surging (Yasuda & Furuya, 2015).…”

“…In this study, the glacier frontal positions in each Landsat image from 1972 to 2020 have been manually digitized. In this process, glacier outlines from Cao et al (2020) and DEM (TanDEM-X) and Google Earth high-resolution images (Worldview and Pleiades images during 2000-2010) were used as references. In order to compare with the glacier surface elevation changes, the changes in glacier lengths were also divided into two time periods (before and after 2000).…”

“…Previous studies have revealed that although the glacier area within the WKM decreased after the 1970s, it has slightly increased in recent years (Bao et al., 2015; Cao et al., 2020). Similarly, the glacier surface elevation in this region thinned slightly from 1970 to 2000; and then, it thickened slightly after 2000 (Bao et al., 2015; Cao et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2018).…”

“…and thinning at lower and higher elevations, respectively, and surface velocity increases (Cao et al, 2020;Ke et al, 2015). Such phenomena are most likely related to glacier surging (Yasuda & Furuya, 2015).…”

Geometric Evolution of the Chongce Glacier during 1970–2020, Detected by Multi-Source Satellite Observations

“…The West Kunlun Shan (WKS) located on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau, with a glacier area of about 8817.78 km 2 , accounts for more than 70% of the total glacier area in the Kunlun Mountain [15]. During the past few decades, glaciers in the WKS have generally experienced a balanced or slightly negative mass change [16][17][18][19][20]. Over a similar time period, surge events have been detected for many glaciers in the WKS [17,[21][22][23][24].…”