Permafrost degradation along the Qinghai–Tibet Highway from 1995 to 2020

• Published in: Advances in Climate Change Research
• Main Authors: Zhi-Zhong Sun, Wei Ma, Gui-Long Wu, Yong-Zhi Liu, Guo-Yu Li
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2023
• Subjects: Permafrost table depth; Permafrost temperature; Permafrost degradation; Qinghai–Tibet Highway; Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Social sciences (General); H1-99; permafrost
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2023.04.006; https://doaj.org/article/a7cd42f535f6403b9a7a44c16c66e5ab

Permafrost degradation significantly affects engineering infrastructure, hydrologic processes, landscape and geomorphic processes, ecosystems and carbon cycling in cold regions. The permafrost degradation along the Qinghai–Tibet Highway (QTH) on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China, introduces an adverse effect on the deformation of the highway subgrade. At present, observation of a long series of ground temperatures is lacking. From 1995 to 2020, a monitoring system of ground temperature in 10 natural sites along QTH was built and maintained. Ground temperatures at different depths were continuously observed semi-monthly. In this study, permafrost changes along QTH were quantitatively investigated based on these records. The main results showed that both the permafrost table depth (PTD) and ground temperature at different depths exhibited an increasing trend from 1995 to 2020 with widespread spatiotemporal differences. The higher the annual mean and range of PTD were, the higher the increase rate in PTD. The increase rates in PTDs in the warm permafrost regions were 6.18 cm per year larger than those in the cold ones. Overall, the increase rates in ground temperature decreased with the increase in depth at each site. At different depths, the smaller the mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) was, the larger the increase rate in the permafrost temperatures. The larger the range of ground temperatures was, the bigger the increase rate in the permafrost temperatures. At a depth of 6.0 m, the increase rate in the ground temperature in cold permafrost regions was twice that in warm permafrost regions. Information on the magnitudes and differences in permafrost degradation along QTH is necessary for the design of effective adaption strategies for engineering construction and environment protection in permafrost regions under climatic warming.