The glacier ELA is one of the important parameters reflecting climate change.Based on observations of the equilibrium line altitude(ELA) of Urumqi Glacier No.1 in the Tianshan Mountains,we established a statistical model between ELA and its major influencing factors,warm season air temperature(air temperature averages for May,June,July and August) and annual precipitation.Result showed that,warm season air temperature was the leading climatic factor influencing ELA variations.The glacier ELA ascends(descends) 61.7 m when warm season air temperature increases(decreases) by 1°C,and ascends(descends) 13.1 m when cold season precipitation decreases(increases) by 10%.In the period 1959-2008,the glacier ELA showed a general increasing trend,ascending108 m and reaching its highest altitude in 2008 at 4168 m a.s.l.,close to the glacier summit.If future climate is similar to that in the past 50 years,the ELA of Urumqi Glacier No.1 will still ascend with a speed of 2.16 m/a.However,If future climate is similar to that in the period 2000-2008,the ELA will still ascend with a speed of 6.5 m/a before it is stable.As a result of ELA variation,the accumulation area ratio(AAR) of the glacier showed a decreasing trend during the past 50 years.
Water storage has important significance for understanding water cycles of global and local domains and for monitoring climate and environmental changes.As a key variable in hydrology,water storage change represents the sum of precipitation,evaporation,surface runoff,soil water and groundwater exchanges.Water storage change data during the period of 2003-2008 for the source region of the Yellow River were collected from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE)satellite data.The monthly actual evaporation was estimated according to the water balance equation.The simulated actual evaporation was significantly consistent and correlative with not only the observed pan(20 cm)data,but also the simulated results of the version 2 of Simple Biosphere model.The average annual evaporation of the Tangnaihai Basin was 506.4 mm,where evaporation in spring,summer,autumn and winter was 130.9 mm,275.2 mm,74.3 mm and 26.1 mm,and accounted for 25.8%,54.3%,14.7% and 5.2% of the average annual evaporation,respectively.The precipitation increased slightly and the actual evaporation showed an obvious decrease.The water storage change of the source region of the Yellow River displayed an increase of 0.51 mm per month from 2003 to 2008,which indicated that the storage capacity has significantly increased,probably caused by the degradation of permafrost and the increase of the thickness of active layers.The decline of actual evaporation and the increase of water storage capacity resulted in the increase of river runoff.
Min XUBaiSheng YEQiuDong ZHAOShiQing ZHANGJiang WANG
Aerosol samples were collected in the Shiyi Glacier, Qilian Mountains from July 24 to August 19, 2012 and analyzed for major water-soluble ionic species(F^-, Cl^-, NO_2^-, NO_3^-, SO_4^(2-), Na^+, NH_4^+, K^+, Mg^(2+) and Ca^(2+)) by ion chromatography. SO_4^(2-) and NH_4^+ were the most abundant components of all the anions and cations, with average concentrations of 94.72 and 54.26 neq/m^3, respectively, accounting for 34% and 20% of the total water-soluble ions analyzed. These mean ion concentrations were generally comparable with the background conditions in remote sites of the Qilian Mountains, but were much lower than those in certain cities in China. The particles were grouped into two dominant types according to their morphology and EDX signal: Si-rich particles and Fe-rich particles. Backward air mass trajectory analysis suggested that inland cities may contribute some anthropogenic pollution to this glacier, while the arid and semi-arid regions of central Asia were the primary sources of the mineral particles.
Long time series of Antarctic sea ice extent(SIE) are important for climate research and model forecasting. A historic ice extent in the Ross Sea in early austral winter was rebuilt through sea salt ions in the DT401 ice core in interior East Antarctica. El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO) had a significant influence on the sea salt deposition in DT401 through its influence on the Ross Sea SIE and the transport of sea salt inland. Spectral analysis also supported the influence of ENSO with a significant 2–6 a periodicity band. In addition, statistically significant decadal(10 a) and pentadecadal(50–70 a) periodicities suggested the existence of a teleconnection from the Pacific decadal oscillation(PDO), which originated from sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The first eigenvector of the empirical orthogonal function analysis(EOF1) showed lower values during the Medieval Warm Period(MWP), while higher values were found in the Little Ice Age(LIA). A higher frequency of ENSO events were found in the cold climatic stage. The post 1800 AD period was occupied by significant fluctuations of the EOF1, and PDO may be one of the influencing factors. The EOF1 values showed moderate fluctuations from 680 BC to 1000 AD, showing that the climate was relatively stable in this period.
LI ChuanJinREN JiaWenXIAO CunDeHOU ShuGuiDING MingHuQIN DaHe
A field observation on the albedo of the snowpack in Central Tibet was conducted in the Nam Co region in the winter of 2011. Snow properties, including grain size and density, were measured in the field, and surface-layer snow samples (down to 5 cm) were collected. The average concentrations of black carbon and dust were 72 ppbm (close to that in the glaciers of Mt. Nyainqentanglha) and 120 ppmm, respectively. Inverse trends were found to exist between the albedo of the snowpack and light-absorbing aerosols (LAAs) as well as grain size growth. Modeling showed that black carbon, dust, and grain growth in the winter snowpack can reduce the broadband albedo by 11%, 28%, and 61%, respectively.
