Changes in physical features of Glacier No. 1 of the Tianshan Mountains in response to climate change

Li, XiangYing; Ding, Yongjian; Ye, Baisheng; Han, Tao

doi:10.1007/s11434-011-4621-x

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1 has experienced steady mass loss since 1959, and an accelerating trend in mass loss has been observed. As observed by Li et al [51], the superimposed-ice zone diminished, and part of the superimposed-ice zone even disappeared with increasing summer temperatures. As a consequence, for the first and second scenarios, the probability of occurrence is decreasing, while the probability of the third scenario happening is increasing, and the fourth scenario may even occur.…”

Section: Relationship Between the Equilibrium Line Altitude Calculated Using The Glaciology Methods And The Snow Line Altitude Delineatedsupporting

confidence: 61%

Changes in the End-of-Summer Snow Line Altitude of Summer-Accumulation-Type Glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains from 1994 to 2016

Yue

Jun

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For summer-accumulation-type glaciers, the glaciological literature is lacking studies on determining the snow line altitude (SLA) from optical images at the end of the summer as an indicator of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). This paper presents a workflow for extracting the SLA from Landsat images based on the variation in the albedo with the altitude in the central line area of glaciers. The correlation of >0.8 at the 99% confidence level between the retrieved SLAs with ELAs derived from the interpolation of ground-based, mass balance measurements indicated that the workflow can be applied to derive the SLA from end-of-summer satellite data as an indicator of ELA. The ELA was under-estimated by the calculated SLA. The relationship between the end-of-summer SLA and the ELA depends on the intensity of glacier melting. Subsequently, the workflow was applied to the seven glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains, and a time series of the SLA was obtained using 12 end-of-summer Landsat scenes from 1994 to 2016. Over the whole study period, a mean SLA of 4011.6 ± 20.7 m above sea level (a.s.l.) was derived for the seven investigated glaciers, and an increasing SLA was demonstrated. The increase in SLAs was consistent for the seven glaciers from 1994 to 2016. Concerning the spatial variability, the east‒west difference was prominent, and these differences exhibited a decreasing trend. The average SLA of each glacier is more influenced by its morpho-topographic variables. The interannual variations in the average SLA are mainly driven by the increasing summer air temperature, and the high correlation with the cumulative summer solid precipitation reflects the characteristics of the summer-accumulation-type glaciers.

show abstract

Section: Relationship Between the Equilibrium Line Altitude Calculated Using The Glaciology Methods And The Snow Line Altitude Delineatedsupporting

confidence: 61%

Changes in the End-of-Summer Snow Line Altitude of Summer-Accumulation-Type Glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains from 1994 to 2016

Yue

Jun

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this study, we analyses the correlation between Urumqi Glacier No.1 ELA and air temperature and precipitation during the past 50 years, demonstrating the coincidence between ELA and air temperature variation. The ascending trend of the glacier ELA is mainly controlled by the increase of contemporaneous air temperature, especially the air temperature showing accelerated increasing trend since 1985 [13,20] (Figure 4), indicating the strong influence of air temperature on the glacier ELA, mass balance and runoff change during the past 50 years [33]. Figure 4 also presents that there were two stages for the glacier ELA variation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Variations in the equilibrium line altitude of Urumqi Glacier No.1, Tianshan Mountains, over the past 50 years

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The glacier ELA is one of the important parameters reflecting climate change. Based on observations of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of Urumqi Glacier No.1 in the Tianshan Mountains, we established a statistical model between ELA and its major influencing factors, warm season air temperature (air temperature averages for May, June, July and August) and annual precipitation. Result showed that, warm season air temperature was the leading climatic factor influencing ELA variations. The glacier ELA ascends (descends) 61.7 m when warm season air temperature increases (decreases) by 1°C, and ascends (descends) 13.1 m when cold season precipitation decreases (increases) by 10%. In the period 1959-2008, the glacier ELA showed a general increasing trend, ascending108 m and reaching its highest altitude in 2008 at 4168 m a.s.l., close to the glacier summit. If future climate is similar to that in the past 50 years, the ELA of Urumqi Glacier No.1 will still ascend with a speed of 2.16 m/a. However, If future climate is similar to that in the period 2000-2008, the ELA will still ascend with a speed of 6.5 m/a before it is stable. As a result of ELA variation, the accumulation area ratio (AAR) of the glacier showed a decreasing trend during the past 50 years. Tianshan Mountains, Urumqi Glacier No.1, ELA, global warming Citation: Dong Z W, Qin D H, Ren J W, et al. Variations in the equilibrium line altitude of Urumqi Glacier No.1, Tianshan Mountains, over the past 50 years.

show abstract

“…With global climate warming and population explosion, water resources in mountains are facing a severe test. The rise of temperature cause glaciers retreat dramatically [21][22][23]. In the coming short period, the contribution of glacier melt water to basinal runoff perhaps will increase, but in the long run, the compensation capacity of melt water is bound to gradually reduce .…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hydrological linkage of mountains and plains in the arid region of northwest China

2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mountain regions supply a large amount of fresh water for the people in arid and semiarid regions, however, there is great uncertainty of the water quantification from mountains to lower areas. In order to assess the hydrological significance of mountains and the hydrological linkage of mountains and plains, the measured and simulated hydrological data of the arid region in northwest China were used in the present research which followed a catchment-based approach. Firstly, the Heihe River Basin, a welldocumented area, was selected as a specific watershed to reveal the hydrological relationship between highlands (mountains) and lowlands (plains); and then, the significance and disproportion of mountain runoff of 8 river basins as cases in the arid region of northwest China were analyzed and compared following the above analysis. The results of the study showed that the proportion of mountain runoff in total basinal runoff (PMR) of most rivers is above 50%. The PMR are between 50%-95% in the rivers originated in the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains where the aqueous vapor is relatively sufficient. And that, almost all the flow of the rivers originating from the Qilian Mountains, the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, and the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains come from mountain regions. Also the PMR gradually increases from west to east in northwest China. The hydrological significance and disproportion of mountains water in the arid region of northwest China were given a systematic and thorough assessment, and the results could give potential guides for the scientific utilization of water resources in these regional areas for relieving the more and more serious shortage of water resources due to climate warming and population expansion. Mountain, an important water-source region, can effectively supply water resources to its neighboring lower hills and plains. Not only abundant rainfall, there are also a large number of glaciers and snow storage in the high-altitude mountains. The melting water from glacier makes up large amount of water resources. Most rivers on the Earth have their sources in mountain regions. The relationship between mountains and plains in water balance is an important scientific problem. There were many researches about that and had a lot of results, especially in the glaciology and climatology [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Though the existing researches have actively promoted the development of mountain hydrology and the studies in water balance linkage of mountains and plains, there are still many contradictions and problems needed to be solved, such as the shortage of the systematic researches and quantificational describes about hydrological significance of mountains. The arid region of northwest China, located in the hinterland of the Eurasia, covers approximately 24.5% of China's total land area, and about 43.5% of it are mountains and hills [9][10][11]. Little precipitation with vast evaporation makes there become one of the world's most severe drought

show abstract

Changes in physical features of Glacier No. 1 of the Tianshan Mountains in response to climate change

Cited by 12 publications

References 26 publications

Changes in the End-of-Summer Snow Line Altitude of Summer-Accumulation-Type Glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains from 1994 to 2016

Changes in the End-of-Summer Snow Line Altitude of Summer-Accumulation-Type Glaciers in the Eastern Tien Shan Mountains from 1994 to 2016

Variations in the equilibrium line altitude of Urumqi Glacier No.1, Tianshan Mountains, over the past 50 years

The hydrological linkage of mountains and plains in the arid region of northwest China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About