分类： 地球科学 >> 地理学 提交时间： 2022-10-12 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》
摘要：
Topography plays an important role in determining the glacier changes. However, topography has often been oversimplified in the studies of the glacier changes. No systematic studies have been conducted to evaluate the relationship between the glacier changes and topographic features. The present study provided a detailed insight into the changes in the two branches (east branch and west branch) of Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains since 1993 and systematically discussed the effect of topography on the glacier parameters. This study analyzed comprehensive recently observed data (from 1992/1993 to 2018/2019), including mass balance, ice thickness, surface elevation, ice velocity, terminus, and area, and then determined the differences in the changes of the two branches and explored the effect of topography on the glacier changes. We also applied a topographic solar radiation model to analyze the influence of topography on the incoming shortwave radiation (SWin) across the entire glacier, focusing on the difference in the SWin between the two branches. The glacier mass balance of the east branch was more negative than that of the west branch from 1992/1993 to 2018/2019, and this was mainly attributed to the lower average altitude of the east branch. Compared with the west branch, the decrease rate of the ice velocity was lower in the east branch owing to its relatively increased slope. The narrow shape of the west branch and its southeast aspect in the earlier period resulted in a larger glacier terminus retreat of the west branch. The spatial variability of the SWin across the glacier surface became much larger as altitude increased. The SWin received by the east branch was slightly larger than that received by the west branch, and the northern aspect could receive more SWin, leading to glacier melting. In the future, the difference of the glacier changes between the two branches will continue to exist due to their topographic differences. This work is fundamental to understanding how topographic features affect the glacier changes, and provides information for building different types of relationship between the glacier area and ice volume to promote further studies on the basin-scale glacier classification.
分类： 地球科学 >> 地理学 提交时间： 2022-07-18 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》
摘要： Topography plays an important role in determining the glacier changes. However, topography has often been oversimplified in the studies of the glacier changes. No systematic studies have been conducted to evaluate the relationship between the glacier changes and topographic features. The present study provided a detailed insight into the changes in the two branches (east branch and west branch) of Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains since 1993 and systematically discussed the effect of topography on the glacier parameters. This study analyzed comprehensive recently observed data (from 1992/1993 to 2018/2019), including mass balance, ice thickness, surface elevation, ice velocity, terminus, and area, and then determined the differences in the changes of the two branches and explored the effect of topography on the glacier changes. We also applied a topographic solar radiation model to analyze the influence of topography on the incoming shortwave radiation (SWin) across the entire glacier, focusing on the difference in the SWin between the two branches. The glacier mass balance of the east branch was more negative than that of the west branch from 1992/1993 to 2018/2019, and this was mainly attributed to the lower average altitude of the east branch. Compared with the west branch, the decrease rate of the ice velocity was lower in the east branch owing to its relatively increased slope. The narrow shape of the west branch and its southeast aspect in the earlier period resulted in a larger glacier terminus retreat of the west branch. The spatial variability of the SWin across the glacier surface became much larger as altitude increased. The SWin received by the east branch was slightly larger than that received by the west branch, and the northern aspect could receive more SWin, leading to glacier melting. In the future, the difference of the glacier changes between the two branches will continue to exist due to their topographic differences. This work is fundamental to understanding how topographic features affect the glacier changes, and provides information for building different types of relationship between the glacier area and ice volume to promote further studies on the basin-scale glacier classification.
分类： 地球科学 >> 地理学 提交时间： 2022-05-09 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》
摘要： Abstract: Glaciers are known as natural ''solid reservoirs'', and they play a dual role between the composition of water resources and the river runoff regulation in arid and semi-arid areas of China. In this study, we used in situ observation data from Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in combination with meteorological data from stations and a digital elevation model, to develop a distributed degree-day model for glaciers in the Urumqi River Basin to simulate glacier mass balance processes and quantify their effect on streamflow during 19802020. The results indicate that the mass loss and the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of glaciers in the last 41 years had an increasing trend, with the average mass balance and ELA being 0.85 (0.32) m w.e./a (meter water-equivalent per year) and 4188 m a.s.l., respectively. The glacier mass loss has increased significantly during 19992020, mostly due to the increase in temperature and the extension of ablation season. During 19802011, the average annual glacier meltwater runoff in the Urumqi River Basin was 0.48108 m3, accounting for 18.56% of the total streamflow. We found that the annual streamflow in different catchments in the Urumqi River Basin had a strong response to the changes in glacier mass balance, especially from July to August, and the glacier meltwater runoff increased significantly. In summary, it is quite possible that the results of this research can provide a reference for the study of glacier water resources in glacier-recharged basins in arid and semi-arid areas.
分类： 地球科学 >> 地理学 提交时间： 2021-02-10 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》
摘要： The Karakoram Mountains are well known for their widespread surge-type glaciers and slight glacier mass gains. On the one hand, glaciers are one of the sensitive indicators of climate change, their area and thickness will adjust with climate change. On the other hand, glaciers provide freshwater resources for agricultural irrigation and hydroelectric generation in the downstream areas of the Shaksgam River Basin (SRB) in western China. The shrinkage of glaciers caused by climate change can significantly affect the security and sustainable development of regional water resources. In this study, we analyzed the changes in glacier area from 2000 to 2016 in the SRB using Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper)/ETM+ (Enhanced Mapper Plus)/OLI (Operational Land Imager) images. It is shown that the SRB contained 472 glaciers, with an area of 1840.3 km2, in 2016. The glacier area decreased by 0.14%/a since 2000, and the shrinkage of glacier in the southeast, east and south directions were the most, while the northeast, north directions were the least. Debris-covered area accounted for 8.0% of the total glacier area. We estimated elevation and mass changes using the 1 arc-second SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM (Digital Elevation Model) (2000) and the resolution of 8 m HMA (High Mountain Asia) DEM (2016). An average thickness of 0.08 (±0.03) m/a, or a slight mass increase of 0.06 (±0.02) m w.e./a has been obtained since 2000. We found thinning was significantly lesser on the clean ice than the debris-covered ice. In addition, the elevation of glacier surface is spatially heterogeneous, showing that the accumulation of mass is dominant in high altitude regions, and the main mass loss is in low altitude regions, excluding the surge-type glacier. For surge-type glaciers, the mass may transfer from the reservoir to the receiving area rapidly when surges, then resulting in an advance of glacier terminus. The main surge mechanism is still unclear, it is worth noting that the surge did not increase the glacier mass in this study.
分类： 地球科学 >> 地理学 提交时间： 2021-01-15 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》
摘要： Information on the thickness distribution and volume of glacier ice is highly important for glaciological applications; however, detailed measurements of the ice thickness of many glaciers in the Chinese Altay Mountains remain lacking. Burqin Glacier No. 18 is a northeast-orientated cirque glacier located on the southern side of the Altay Mountains. This study used PulseEKKO® PRO 100A enhancement ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to survey the ice thickness and volume of Burqin Glacier No. 18 in summer 2018. Together with GPR surveying, spatial distributed profiles of the GPR measurements were concurrently surveyed using the real-time kinematic (RTK) global navigation satellite system (GNSS, Unistrong E650). Besides, we used QuickBird, WorldView-2, and Landsat TM to delineate accurate boundary of the glacier for undertaking estimation of glacier ice volume. GPR measurements revealed that the basal topography of profile B1-B2 was flat, the basal topography of profile C1-C2 presented a V-type form, and the basal topography of profile D1-D2 had a typical U-type topographic feature because the bedrock near the central elevation of the glacier was relatively flat. The longitudinal profile A1-A2 showed a ladder-like distribution. Glacier ice was thin at the terminus and its thickness increased gradually from the elevation of approximately 2620 m a.s.l. along the main axis of the glacier tongue with an average value of 80 (±1) m. The average ice thickness of the glacier was determined as 27 (±2) m and its total ice volume was estimated at 0.031 (±0.002) km3. Interpretation of remote sensing images indicated that during 1989–2016, the glacier area reduced from 1.30 to 1.17 km2 (reduction of 0.37%/a) and the glacier terminus retreated at the rate of 8.48 m/a. The mean ice thickness of Burqin Glacier No. 18 was less than that of the majority of other observed glaciers in China, especially those in the Qilian Mountains and Central Chinese Tianshan Mountains; this is probably attributable to differences in glacier type and climatic setting.
分类： 地球科学 >> 地理学 提交时间： 2017-11-07 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》
摘要： Urumqi Glacier No. 1 is a representative glacier in the inland areas of Central Asia and is the only Chinese reference glacier in the World Glacier Monitoring Service. In this study, we explored multi-decadal variations in the flow velocity of the glacier and the influencing factors based on continuous field observations and path coefficient analysis.
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