Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017
Abstract Variations in glacier meltwater in the source regions of the Tibetan Plateau's (TP) largest lake (Selin Co) and China's longest river (Yangtze River) regulate the local and downstream water balance under the warming climate. However, the magnitude of their variations over the past...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.9 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143021000095 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2021.9 2024-04-07T07:53:42+00:00 Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 Chen, Wenfeng Yao, Tandong Zhang, Guoqing Li, Shenghai Zheng, Guoxiong 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.9 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143021000095 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 67, issue 264, page 577-591 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 Earth-Surface Processes journal-article 2021 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.9 2024-03-08T00:36:12Z Abstract Variations in glacier meltwater in the source regions of the Tibetan Plateau's (TP) largest lake (Selin Co) and China's longest river (Yangtze River) regulate the local and downstream water balance under the warming climate. However, the magnitude of their variations over the past four decades is still unknown. Here, we examine long-term changes in glacier mass balance over 1976–2017 using KH-9 and CoSSC-TanDEM-X data. We find that the mean rate of glacier mass loss (GML) has accelerated from −0.21 ± 0.11 m a –1 over 1976–2000, to −0.28 ± 0.14 m a –1 over 2000–11, and subsequently to −0.48 ± 0.10 m a –1 over 2011–17. Changes in temperature and precipitation are the major causes of GML. Over 1976–2017, the contribution of decadal GML to Tuotuohe sub-basin runoff ranges from 4.3 to 8.0%, while its contribution to increased lake volume change in Selin Co and Chibzhang Co-Dorsoidong Co ranges from 3.5 to 16.3% and 19.2 to 21.4%, respectively. The GML of source regions made relatively small contributions to river runoff and lake supply, but plays a vital role when precipitation decreases. The quantitative evaluation of the water balance for the sources of great rivers and lakes over the TP is therefore important for water resource management and hydrological cycle studies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Journal of Glaciology Cambridge University Press Journal of Glaciology 67 264 577 591 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth-Surface Processes |
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Earth-Surface Processes Chen, Wenfeng Yao, Tandong Zhang, Guoqing Li, Shenghai Zheng, Guoxiong Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
topic_facet |
Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
Abstract Variations in glacier meltwater in the source regions of the Tibetan Plateau's (TP) largest lake (Selin Co) and China's longest river (Yangtze River) regulate the local and downstream water balance under the warming climate. However, the magnitude of their variations over the past four decades is still unknown. Here, we examine long-term changes in glacier mass balance over 1976–2017 using KH-9 and CoSSC-TanDEM-X data. We find that the mean rate of glacier mass loss (GML) has accelerated from −0.21 ± 0.11 m a –1 over 1976–2000, to −0.28 ± 0.14 m a –1 over 2000–11, and subsequently to −0.48 ± 0.10 m a –1 over 2011–17. Changes in temperature and precipitation are the major causes of GML. Over 1976–2017, the contribution of decadal GML to Tuotuohe sub-basin runoff ranges from 4.3 to 8.0%, while its contribution to increased lake volume change in Selin Co and Chibzhang Co-Dorsoidong Co ranges from 3.5 to 16.3% and 19.2 to 21.4%, respectively. The GML of source regions made relatively small contributions to river runoff and lake supply, but plays a vital role when precipitation decreases. The quantitative evaluation of the water balance for the sources of great rivers and lakes over the TP is therefore important for water resource management and hydrological cycle studies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chen, Wenfeng Yao, Tandong Zhang, Guoqing Li, Shenghai Zheng, Guoxiong |
author_facet |
Chen, Wenfeng Yao, Tandong Zhang, Guoqing Li, Shenghai Zheng, Guoxiong |
author_sort |
Chen, Wenfeng |
title |
Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
title_short |
Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
title_full |
Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
title_fullStr |
Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the Tibetan Plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
title_sort |
accelerated glacier mass loss in the largest river and lake source regions of the tibetan plateau and its links with local water balance over 1976–2017 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.9 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143021000095 |
genre |
Journal of Glaciology |
genre_facet |
Journal of Glaciology |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 67, issue 264, page 577-591 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.9 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
67 |
container_issue |
264 |
container_start_page |
577 |
op_container_end_page |
591 |
_version_ |
1795669778975686656 |