Advanced Search

Indexed by SCI、CA、РЖ、PA、CSA、ZR、etc .

Volume 22 Issue 4
Aug 2011
Turn off MathJax
Article Contents
Puyu Wang, Zhongqin Li, Wenyu Gao. Rapid Shrinking of Glaciers in the Middle Qilian Mountain Region of Northwest China during the Last ~50 Years. Journal of Earth Science, 2011, 22(4): 539-548. doi: 10.1007/s12583-011-0195-4
Citation: Puyu Wang, Zhongqin Li, Wenyu Gao. Rapid Shrinking of Glaciers in the Middle Qilian Mountain Region of Northwest China during the Last ~50 Years. Journal of Earth Science, 2011, 22(4): 539-548. doi: 10.1007/s12583-011-0195-4

Rapid Shrinking of Glaciers in the Middle Qilian Mountain Region of Northwest China during the Last ~50 Years

doi: 10.1007/s12583-011-0195-4
Funds:

the National Basic Research Program of China 2010CB951003

the National Basic Research Program of China 2007CB411501

the National Natural Science Foundation of China 91025012

the National Natural Science Foundation of China J0930003/J0109

More Information
  • Corresponding author: Puyu Wang, wangpuyu862@163.com
  • Received Date: 28 Sep 2010
  • Accepted Date: 30 Dec 2010
  • Publish Date: 01 Aug 2011
  • During the past five decades, fluctuations of glaciers were reconstructed from historical documents, aerial photographs, and remote sensing data. From 1956 to 2003, 910 glaciers investigated had reduced in area by 21.7% of the 1956 value, with a mean reduction for the individual glacier of 0.10 km2. The relative area reductions of small glaciers were usually higher than those of large ones, which exhibited larger absolute loss, indicating that the small glaciers were more sensitive to climate change than large ones. Over the past ~50 years, glacier area decreased by 29.6% in the Heihe (黑河) River basin and 18.7% in the Beidahe (北大河) River basin, which were the two regions investigated in the Middle Qilian (祁连) Mountain region. Compared with other areas of the Qilian Mountain region, the most dramatic glacier shrinkage had occurred in the Middle Qilian Mountain region, mainly resulting from rapid rising temperatures. Regional differences in glacier area changes are related to local climate conditions, the relative proportion of glaciers in different size classes, and other factors.

     

  • loading
  • Academia Sinica, 1959. Report of the Investigation of Modern Glaciers in the Qilian Mts., Investigation Team of Ice/Snow Utilization (Special Issue I). Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)
    Ageta, Y., Kadota, T., 1992. Predictions of Changes of Glacier Mass Balance in the Nepal Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau: A Case Study of Air Temperature Increase for Three Glaciers. Annals of Glaciology, 16: 89-94 doi: 10.3189/1992AoG16-1-89-94
    Chen, Y., Zhang, D. Q., Sun, Y. B., et al., 2005. Water Demand Management: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin in China. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 30(6-7): 408-419 doi: 10.1016/j.pce.2005.06.019
    Cia, J. C., Andres, A. J., Sanchez, M. A., et al., 2005. Responses to Climatic Changes since the Little Ice Age on Maladeta Glacier (Central Pyrenees). Geomorphology, 68(3-4): 167-182 doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2004.11.012
    Dikich, A. N., Hagg, W., 2004. Climate Driven Changes of Glacier Runoff in the Issyk-Kul Basin, Kyrgystan. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 39: 75-86 http://www.researchgate.net/publication/256115561_Climate_driven_changes_of_glacier_runoff_in_the_Issyk-Kul_basin_Kyrgystan
    Evans, I. S., 2006. Local Aspect Asymmetry of Mountain Glaciation: A Global Survey of Consistency of Favoured Directions for Glacier Numbers and Altitudes. Geomorphology, 73(1-2): 166-184 doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.07.009
    Evans, I. S., Cox, N. J., 2010. Climatogenic North-South Asymmetry of Local Glaciers in Spitsbergen and Other Parts of the Arctic. Annals of Glaciology, 51(55): 16-22 doi: 10.3189/172756410791392682
    Fujita, K., Ageta, Y., Pu, J. C., et al., 2000. Mass Balance of Xiao Dongkemadi Glacier on the Central Tibetan Plateau from 1989 to 1995. Annals of Glaciology, 31: 159-163 doi: 10.3189/172756400781820075
    Fujita, K., Ageta, Y., 2000. Effect of Summer Accumulation on Glacier Mass Balance on the Tibetan Palteau Revealed by Mass-Balance Model. Jounal of Glaciology, 46: 244-252 doi: 10.3189/172756500781832945
    Gao, Q. Z., Li, F. X., 1991. Case Study of Rational Development and Utilization of Water Resources in the Heihe River Basin. Gansu Science and Technology Press, Lanzhou. 1-228 (in Chinese)
    Hagg, W., Braun, L., 2005. The Influence of Glacier Retreat on Water Yield from High Mountain Areas: Comparison of Alps and Central Asian. In: de Jong, C., Collins, D., Ranzi, R., eds., Climate and Hydrology in Mountain Areas. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., West Sussex. 263-275 doi: 10.1002/0470858249.ch18/pdf
    Hodgkins, R., Fox, A., Nuttall, A. M., 2007. Geometry Change between 1990 and 2003 at Finsterwalderbreen, a Svalbard Surge-Type Glacier, from GPS Profiling. Annals of Glaciology, 46: 131-135 doi: 10.3189/172756407782871189
    Jia, W. X., He, Y. Q., Li, Z. X., et al., 2008. The Regional Difference and Catastrophe of Climatic Change in Qilian Mt. Region. Acta Geographica Sinica, 63(3): 257-269 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-DLXB200803006.htm
    Jin, R., Li, X., Che, T., et al., 2005. Glacier Area Changes in the Pumqu River Basin, Tibetan Plateau, between the 1970s and 2001. Journal of Glaciology, 51(175): 607-610 doi: 10.3189/172756505781829061
    Jóhannesson, T., Raymond, C., Waddington, E., 1989. Time-Scale for Adjustment of Glaciers to Changes in Mass Balance. Journal of Glaciology, 35(121): 355-369 doi: 10.1017/S002214300000928X
    Kääb, A., 2004. Mountain Glaciers and Permafrost Creep. In: Methodical Research Perspectives from Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Technologies: [Dessertation]. University of Zurich, Zurich. 205
    Knight, P. G., 1998. Glaciers. Stanley Thornes Ltd., Cheletenham
    Lan, Y. C., Ding, Y. J., Kang, E. S., 2004. Variations and Trends of Temperature and Precipitation in the Mountain Drainage Basin of the Heihe River in Recent 50 Years. Plateau Meteorology, 23(5): 723-727 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://www.researchgate.net/publication/303151686_Variations_and_trends_of_temperature_and_precipitation_in_the_mountain_drainage_basin_of_the_Heihe_river_in_recent_50_years
    Lan, Y. C., Ding, Y. J., Liu, J. Q., et al., 2005. Change of Water Resources in Mountainous Area of Heihe River under Global-Warming Scene. Journal of Desert Research, 25(6): 863-868 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-ZGSS200506007.htm
    Li, B. L., Zhu, A. X., Zhang, Y. C., et al., 2006. Glacier Change over the Past Four Decades in the Middle Chinese Tien Shan. Journal of Glaciology, 52(178): 425-432 doi: 10.3189/172756506781828557
    Li, D. L., Wei, L., Cai, Y., et al., 2003. The Present Facts and the Future Tendency of the Climate Change in Northwest China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 25(2): 135-142 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://www.researchgate.net/publication/284105799_The_present_facts_and_the_future_tendency_of_the_climate_change_in_Northwest_China
    Li, Z. Q., Li, K. M., Wang, L., 2010. Study on Recent Glacier Changes and Their Impact on Water Resources in Xinjiang, North Western China. Quaternary Sciences, 30(1): 96-106 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
    Li, Z. X., He, Y. Q., Pu, T., et al., 2010. Changes of Climate, Glaciers and Runoff in China's Monsoonal Temperate Glacier Region during the Last Several Decades. Quaternary International, 218(1-2): 13-28 doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2009.05.010
    Liu, C. H., Song, Y. P., Jin, M. X., 1992. Recent Change and Trend Prediction of Glaciers in Qilian Mountain. In: Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology Memoirs 7, Academia Sinica, Lanzhou. 1-9 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
    Liu, S. Y., Sun, W. X., Shen, Y. P., et al., 2003. Glacier Changes since the Little Ice Age Maximum in the Western Qilian Shan, Northwest China, and Consequences of Glacier Runoff for Water Supply. Journal of Glaciology, 49(164): 117-124 doi: 10.3189/172756503781830926
    Nesje, A., Dahl, S. O., 2000. Glaciers and Environmental Change. Oxford University Press, New York
    Oerlemans, J., 1994. Quantifying Global Warming from the Retreat of Glaciers. Science, 264(5156): 243-245 doi: 10.1126/science.264.5156.243
    Oerlemans, J., 2005. Extracting a Climate Signal from 169 Glacier Records. Science, 308(5722): 675-677 doi: 10.1126/science.1107046
    Paul, F., Kääb, A., Maisch, M., et al., 2002. The New Remote-Sensing-Derived Swiss Glacier Inventory: I. Methods. Annals of Glaciology, 34: 355-361 doi: 10.3189/172756402781817941
    Paul, F., Kääb, A., Maisch, M., et al., 2004. Rapid Disintegration of Alpine Glaciers Observed with Satellite Data. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(21): L21402
    Pu, J. C., Yao, T. D., Duan, K. Q., et al., 2005. Mass Balance of the Qiyi Glacier in the Qilian Mountains: A New Observation. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 27(2): 199-204 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-BCDT200502007.htm
    Raup, B., Racoviteanu, A., Jodha, S., et al., 2007a. The GLIMS Geospatial Glacier Database: A New Tool for Studying Glacier Change. Global and Planetary Change, 56(1-2): 101-110 doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2006.07.018
    Raup, B., Kääb, A., Kargel, J. S., et al., 2007b. Remote Sensing and GIS Technology in the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Project. Computers & Geosciences, 33(1): 104-125
    Sakai, A., Fujita, K., Duan, K., et al., 2006. Five Decades of Shrinkage of the July 1st Glacier, Qilian Mountains, China. Journal of Glaciology, 52(176): 11-16 doi: 10.3189/172756506781828836
    Shangguan, D. H., Liu, S. Y., Ding, Y. J., et al., 2007. Glacier Changes in the West Kunlun Shan from 1970 to 2001 Derived from Landsat TM/ETM Plus and Chinese Glacier Inventory Data. Annals of Glaciology, 46: 204-208 doi: 10.3189/172756407782871693
    Shangguan, D. H., Liu, S. Y., Ding, Y. J., et al., 2009. Glacier Changes during the Last Forty Years in the Tarim Interior River Basin, Northwest China. Progress in Natural Science, 19(6): 727-732 doi: 10.1016/j.pnsc.2008.11.002
    Shen, Y. P., Liu, S. Y., Wang, L. L., et al., 2001. Fluctuations of Glacier Mass Balance in Watersheds of Qilian Mountains and Their Impact on Water Resources of Hexi Region. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 23(3): 244-250 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://www.researchgate.net/publication/284049930_Fluctuations_of_glacier_mass_balance_in_watersheds_of_Qilian_Mountains_and_their_impact_on_water_resources_of_Hexi_region
    Shi, Y. F., 2000. Glaciers and Their Environments in China—The Present, Past and Future. Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)
    Shi, Y. F., 2001. Estimation of the Water Resources Affected by Climatic Warming and Glacier Shrinkage before 2050 in West China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 23(4): 333-341 (in Chinese with English Abstract) http://www.researchgate.net/publication/284332700_Estimation_of_the_water_resources_affected_by_climatic_warming_and_glacier_shrinkage_before_2050_in_west_China
    Surazakov, A. B., Aizen, V. B., Aizen, E. M., et al., 2007. Glacier Changes in the Siberian Altai Mountains, Ob River Basin, (1952-2006) Estimated with High Resolution Imagery. Environmental Research Letters, 2(4): 045017 doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/2/4/045017
    Toutin, T., 2002. DEM from Stereo Landsat 7 ETM+ Data over High Relief Areas. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23(10): 2133-2139 doi: 10.1080/01431160110098005
    Wang, Z. T., Liu, C. H., You, G. X., et al., 1981. Glacier Inventory of China I (Qilian Mountains). Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Cryopedology, Academia Sinica, Lanzhou (in Chinese)
    Xie, Z. C., Wu, G. H., Wang, L. L., 1985. Recent Fluctuations of Glaciers in the Qilian Mountains. In: Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology Memoirs 5, Academia Sinica, Lanzhou. 82-90 (in Chinese)
    Yang, J. P., Ding, Y. J., Chen, R. S., et al., 2003. Causes of Glacier Change in the Source Regions of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers on the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Glaciology, 49(167): 539-546 doi: 10.3189/172756503781830449
    Yang, Z. N., 1991. Glacier Water Resources in China. Gansu Science and Technology Press, Lanzhou. 81-150 (in Chinese) http://www.researchgate.net/publication/303184330_Glacier_Water_Resources_in_China
    Yao, T. D., Wang, Y. Q., Liu, S. Y., et al., 2004. Recent Glacial Retreat in High Asia in China and Its Impact on Water Resources in Northwest China. Science in China (Series D), 47(12): 1065-1075 doi: 10.1360/03yd0256
    Ye, Q. H., Kang, S. C., Chen, F., et al., 2006. Monitoring Glacier Variations on Geladandong Mountain, Central Tibetan Plateau, from 1969 to 2002 Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technologies. Journal of Glaciology, 52(179): 537-545 doi: 10.3189/172756506781828359
    Zhao, L. Q., 2009. A Study of Glacier Changes and Surface Dust on Lenglongling Glaciers in the Qilian Mountains: [Dissertation]. Lanzhou University, Lanzhou. 1-57 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
  • 加载中

Catalog

    通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
    • 1. 

      沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

    1. 本站搜索
    2. 百度学术搜索
    3. 万方数据库搜索
    4. CNKI搜索

    Figures(6)  / Tables(3)

    Article Metrics

    Article views(684) PDF downloads(34) Cited by()
    Proportional views
    Related

    /

    DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
    Return
    Return