Observed glaciohydrological changes in China’s typical monsoonal temperate glacier region since 1980s

Under the background of significant climate warming since the 1980s, the glaciers in China’s monsoonal temperate glacier region respond to the warming intensely. Based on the glaciohydrological observations at some typical glaciers from Mts. Yulong (玉龙) and Gongga (贡嘎) of Hengduan (横断) Mountains Ran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of earth science (Wuhan, China) Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 179 - 188
Main Authors Pang, Hongxi, He, Yuanqing, Zhang, Ningning, Li, Zongxing, Theakstone, Wilfred H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published China University of Geosciences China University of Geosciences 01.04.2010
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Ablation
Biogeosciences
Climate
Climate change
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth science
Earth Sciences
Freshwater
Geochemistry
Geology
Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences
Glaciers
Global warming
Groundwater discharge
Hydrology
Melting
Meltwater
Mountains
River discharge
River flow
Seasons
Survival
Temperature
Topography
China
glaciohydrological change
Mts. Yulong and Gongga
monsoonal temperate glacier
climate warming
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Summary:Under the background of significant climate warming since the 1980s, the glaciers in China’s monsoonal temperate glacier region respond to the warming intensely. Based on the glaciohydrological observations at some typical glaciers from Mts. Yulong (玉龙) and Gongga (贡嘎) of Hengduan (横断) Mountains Range in the southeastern Tibetan plateau, the glaciohydrological changes in the temperate glacier region since the 1980s were investigated. First, the glacier terminus exhibited an accelerating retreat. Second, as the glacier area subject to melting has increased and the ablation season has become longer due to the warming, the ablation of glacier enhanced, leading to increasing contribution of meltwater to annual river discharge. Third, surface topography of small temperate glacier may be changed significantly by crevasses and ruptures developed in the accumulation zone and ice collapse events in the ablation zone. The observed results may indicate a signal that the survival of glaciers in China’s monsoonal temperate glacier region is being threatened by today’s climate warming.
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ISSN:1674-487X
1867-111X
DOI:10.1007/s12583-010-0016-1