Glacier changes from 1966–2009 in the Gongga Mountains, on the south-eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and their climatic forcing

Pan, Baotian; Zhang, G.; Wang, J.; Cao, Bo; Wang, J.; Zhang, C.; Geng, Haopeng; Ji, Yun

doi:10.5194/tcd-5-3479-2011

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…These results are consistent with other recent studies finding greater recession and also greater variability in change for the smallest glaciers inventoried (e.g., Granshaw and Fountain, 2006;Paul and Kääb, 2005;Paul et al, 2004;Stokes et al, 2013;Tennant et al, 2012). Several studies have noted that, in some regions, glaciers smaller than 0.5 km 2 experienced little to no change relative to larger glaciers because of protection via local topographic setting (e.g., DeBeer and Pan et al, 2012). No such relationship is noted in the Torngat Mountains, perhaps caused by the longer time since deglaciation (e.g., LIA to present).…”

Section: Study Locationssupporting

confidence: 91%

Glacier change from the early Little Ice Age to 2005 in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador, Canada

2015

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a b s t r a c tThe glaciers of the Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador are the southernmost of the Canadian Arctic and the easternmost of continental North America. Currently, 195 small mountain glaciers cover an area in excess of~24 km 2 , confined mostly to small cirques and upland depressions. Using a combination of field and remote sensing methods this study reconstructs and dates the areal extent of Torngat glaciers at their Neoglacial maximums, enabling the first assessment of regional glacier change over the past several centuries. Mapped glacier paleomargins (n = 165) are compared to current (2005) glaciers and ice masses, showing a 52.5% reduction in glacier area, with at least 11 former glaciers altogether disappearing. Glacier change is spatially homogenous and independent of most geographic and topographic factors; however, glacier elevation and glacier size mitigated total change. Previously established lichen growth stations were revisited, and growth rates recalculated based on~30-year-long records, enabling the construction of locally derived low-and high-altitude lichen growth curves. Using growth rates and in situ lichen measurements, the retreat from maximum Neoglacial moraine extents are suggested to have occurred between A.D. 1581 and 1673. These findings indicate a similar magnitude of post-LIA retreat to mountain glaciers elsewhere, yet a much earlier timing (~200 years) of retreat than other glaciers in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Though no definitive answer explaining this discrepancy is presented, evidence suggests that regional climate dynamics and the importance of solar radiation for Torngat glaciers may play an important role in local glacierization.

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Section: Study Locationssupporting

confidence: 91%

Glacier change from the early Little Ice Age to 2005 in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador, Canada

2015

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“…Additionally, the glacier areas in 1966, 1975, 1994 and 2007 are simulated using the calibrated model forced by the bias-corrected global gridded temperature and precipitation over the period 1951–2007. We then compare the modelled glacier area to satellite-based observations in 1966, 1975, 1994 and 2007/09 derived from Liu and others (2010) and Pan and others (2012), who obtained glacier boundaries for different periods from multispectral satellite data and analysed uncertainties. A comparison of the simulated and satellite-based observations during different periods (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4. Scatter diagrams of observed versus simulated monthly runoff calculated from the bias-corrected global gridded climate dataset (1994–2007) and GCM historical data (1994–2005) (a), and satellite-based observed and simulated glacier area in 1966, 1975, 1994 and 2007 (b). Observed 1 and 2 denote satellite-based observed glacier area in different periods obtained from Liu and others (2010) and Pan and others (2012), respectively. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result of increasing air temperature, the glaciers in the catchment have been retreating considerably and losing mass during recent decades (Su and others, 1992; Liu and others, 2010; Zhang and others, 2010, 2012; Pan and others, 2012). The mean annual mass balance during 2001–09 was ∼−0.79 m w.e.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These glaciers represent ∼22% of the total glacier area of China (Shi and Liu, 2000) and have approximately the same area as the Southern Patagonia Icefield (Rignot and others, 2003). These maritime glaciers are more sensitive to ongoing climate warming in the TP than to changes in the amount of precipitation (Shi and Liu, 2000; Su and Shi, 2002; Fujita, 2008; Zhang and others, 2012) and have exhibited the most significant shrinkage of all retreating glaciers in the TP over recent decades (Su and others, 1992; Pan and others, 2012; Yao and others, 2012). An investigation based on comprehensive in situ data revealed that glacier length in this region decreased at a rate of 48.2 m a −1 and glacier area decreased at a rate of 0.57% a −1 from the 1970s to the 2000s, representing rates significantly higher than those in other regions of the TP (Yao and others, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glacier runoff and its impact in a highly glacierized catchment in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau: past and future trends

et al. 2015

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ABSTRACT. We investigate past and future trends in glacier runoff and the associated hydrological impacts on river runoff in the Hailuogou catchment, a highly glacierized catchment with extensive debris cover in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, using a catchment-scale glacio-hydrological model. Past trends in various runoff components of the catchment indicate that glacier runoff has been a large component of total runoff, contributing~53.4% of total runoff during the period 1952-2013. Future changes in runoff calculated using the outputs of ten global climate models for representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP8.5 reveal that glacier runoff plays different roles in the water supply of the catchment for the two RCPs, and the discrepancies between the two RCPs increase in the second half of this century, leading to a considerable difference in the hydrological regime of the catchment. In particular, changes are more remarkable under RCP8.5, under which all glaciers are projected to retreat dramatically and total runoff to decrease slightly by the end of this century. An experimental analysis, in which no debris cover is assumed on glacier ablation zones, indicates that excess meltwater from the debris-covered area provides an 8.1% increase in total runoff relative to the no-debris assumption case.

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Glacier variations and their response to climate change in an arid inland river basin of Northwest China

Zhou

Han

et al. 2020

J. Arid Land

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Glaciers are a critical freshwater resource of river recharge in arid areas around the world. In recent decades, glaciers have shown evidence of retreat due to climate change, and the accelerated ablation of glaciers and associated impacts on water resources have received widespread attention. Glacier variations result from climate change, so they can serve as an indicator of climate change. Considering the climatic differences in different elevation ranges, it is worthwhile to explore whether different responses exist between glacier area and air temperature in each elevation zone. In this study, we selected a typical arid inland river basin (Sugan Lake Basin) in the western Qilian Mountains of Northwest China to analyze the glacier variations and their response to climate change. The glacier area data from 1989 to 2016 were delineated using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced TM+ (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) images. We compared the relationships between glacier area and air temperature at seven meteorological stations in the glacier-covered areas and in the Sugan Lake Basin, and further analyzed the relationship between glacier area and mean air temperature of the glacier surfaces in July-August in the elevation range of 4700-5500 m a.s.l. by the linear regression method and correlation analysis. In addition, based on the linear regression relationship established between glacier area and air temperature in each elevation zone, we predicted glacier areas under future climate scenarios during the periods of 2046-2065 and 2081-2100. The results indicate that the glaciers experienced a remarkable shrinkage from 1989 to 2016 with a shrinkage rate of-1.61 km 2 /a (-0.5%/a), and the rising temperature is the decisive factor dominating glacial retreat; there is a significant negative linear correlation between glacier area and mean air temperature of the glacier surfaces in July-August in each elevation zone from 1989 to 2016. The variations in glaciers are far less sensitive to changes in precipitation than to changes in air temperature. Due to the influence of climate and topographic conditions, the distribution of glacier area and the rate of glacier ablation first increased and then decreased in different elevation zones. The trend in glacier shrinkage will continue because air temperature will continue to increase in the future, and the result of glacier retreat in each elevation zone will be slightly slower than that in the entire study area. Quantitative glacier research can more accurately reflect the response of glacier variations to climate change, and the regression relationship can be used to predict the areas of glaciers under future climate scenarios. These conclusions can offer effective references for assessing glacier variations and their response to climate change in arid inland river basins in Northwest China as well as other similar regions in the world.

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Glacier changes from 1966–2009 in the Gongga Mountains, on the south-eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and their climatic forcing

Cited by 9 publications

References 59 publications

Glacier change from the early Little Ice Age to 2005 in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador, Canada

Glacier change from the early Little Ice Age to 2005 in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador, Canada

Glacier runoff and its impact in a highly glacierized catchment in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau: past and future trends

Glacier variations and their response to climate change in an arid inland river basin of Northwest China

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