Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau
Under global warming, the permafrost-underlain headwater catchments of the Tibetan Plateau have undergone extensive permafrost degradation and changes in precipitation characteristics, which may substantially alter the riverine suspended sediment and riverine solute fluxes. However, these fluxes and...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a69c28aa15ce4732a1eca72bafe1de5c 2023-05-15T13:03:15+02:00 Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau Xiong Xiao Zhu Liu Keshao Liu Jiaqi Wang 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182782 https://doaj.org/article/a69c28aa15ce4732a1eca72bafe1de5c EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/18/2782 https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4441 doi:10.3390/w14182782 2073-4441 https://doaj.org/article/a69c28aa15ce4732a1eca72bafe1de5c Water, Vol 14, Iss 2782, p 2782 (2022) Tibetan Plateau permafrost thawing snowmelt suspended sediment supra-permafrost water solute content Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182782 2022-12-31T00:32:55Z Under global warming, the permafrost-underlain headwater catchments of the Tibetan Plateau have undergone extensive permafrost degradation and changes in precipitation characteristics, which may substantially alter the riverine suspended sediment and riverine solute fluxes. However, these fluxes and their influencing factors in such catchments are poorly understood. We studied the suspended sediment and solute fluxes in a permafrost-underlain headwater catchment on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, based on comprehensive measurements of various water types in spring and summer in 2017. The daily flux of suspended sediment in spring was close to that in summer, but heavy rainfall events following a relatively long dry period made the largest contribution to the suspended sediment fluxes in summer. The riverine solute flux (in tons) was 12.6% and 27.8% of the suspended sediment flux (in tons) in spring and summer, indicating the dominating role of physical weathering in total material exportation. The snowmelt mobilized more suspended sediment fluxes and fewer solutes fluxes than summer rain, which may be due to the meltwater erosion and freeze–thaw processes in spring and the thicker thawed soil layer and better vegetation coverage in summer, and the longer contact time between the soil pore water and the soil and rock minerals after the thawing of frozen soil. The input of snowmelt driven by higher air temperatures in spring and the direct input of rainfall in summer would both act to dilute the stream water; however, the supra-permafrost water, with high solute contents, recharged the adjacent streamflow as frozen soil seeps and thus moderated the decrease in the riverine solute content during heavy snowmelt or rainfall events. With the permafrost degradation under future global warming, the solute fluxes in permafrost-underlain headwater catchments may increase, but the suspended sediment flux in spring may decrease due to the expansion of discontinuous permafrost areas and active layer thickness. Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Water 14 18 2782 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Tibetan Plateau permafrost thawing snowmelt suspended sediment supra-permafrost water solute content Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500 |
spellingShingle |
Tibetan Plateau permafrost thawing snowmelt suspended sediment supra-permafrost water solute content Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500 Xiong Xiao Zhu Liu Keshao Liu Jiaqi Wang Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau |
topic_facet |
Tibetan Plateau permafrost thawing snowmelt suspended sediment supra-permafrost water solute content Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500 |
description |
Under global warming, the permafrost-underlain headwater catchments of the Tibetan Plateau have undergone extensive permafrost degradation and changes in precipitation characteristics, which may substantially alter the riverine suspended sediment and riverine solute fluxes. However, these fluxes and their influencing factors in such catchments are poorly understood. We studied the suspended sediment and solute fluxes in a permafrost-underlain headwater catchment on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, based on comprehensive measurements of various water types in spring and summer in 2017. The daily flux of suspended sediment in spring was close to that in summer, but heavy rainfall events following a relatively long dry period made the largest contribution to the suspended sediment fluxes in summer. The riverine solute flux (in tons) was 12.6% and 27.8% of the suspended sediment flux (in tons) in spring and summer, indicating the dominating role of physical weathering in total material exportation. The snowmelt mobilized more suspended sediment fluxes and fewer solutes fluxes than summer rain, which may be due to the meltwater erosion and freeze–thaw processes in spring and the thicker thawed soil layer and better vegetation coverage in summer, and the longer contact time between the soil pore water and the soil and rock minerals after the thawing of frozen soil. The input of snowmelt driven by higher air temperatures in spring and the direct input of rainfall in summer would both act to dilute the stream water; however, the supra-permafrost water, with high solute contents, recharged the adjacent streamflow as frozen soil seeps and thus moderated the decrease in the riverine solute content during heavy snowmelt or rainfall events. With the permafrost degradation under future global warming, the solute fluxes in permafrost-underlain headwater catchments may increase, but the suspended sediment flux in spring may decrease due to the expansion of discontinuous permafrost areas and active layer thickness. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Xiong Xiao Zhu Liu Keshao Liu Jiaqi Wang |
author_facet |
Xiong Xiao Zhu Liu Keshao Liu Jiaqi Wang |
author_sort |
Xiong Xiao |
title |
Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_short |
Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_full |
Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_fullStr |
Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temporal Variation of Suspended Sediment and Solute Fluxes in a Permafrost-Underlain Headwater Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_sort |
temporal variation of suspended sediment and solute fluxes in a permafrost-underlain headwater catchment on the tibetan plateau |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182782 https://doaj.org/article/a69c28aa15ce4732a1eca72bafe1de5c |
genre |
Active layer thickness permafrost |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness permafrost |
op_source |
Water, Vol 14, Iss 2782, p 2782 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/18/2782 https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4441 doi:10.3390/w14182782 2073-4441 https://doaj.org/article/a69c28aa15ce4732a1eca72bafe1de5c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182782 |
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Water |
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14 |
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18 |
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2782 |
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