中国冰川研究进展

Glacier inventory compilation during the past 20 years and modifications of that for the Eastern Pamir and Banggong Lake indicate that there are 46,342 modern glaciers with a total area and volume of 59415 km^2 and 5601 km^3 respectively in China. These glaciers can be classified into maritime and continental (including sub-continental and extremely continental) types. Researches show that glaciers in China have been retreating since the Little Ice Age and the mass wastage was accelerated during the past 30 to 40 years. Being an important part of glaciological studies in China,ice core climatic and environmental studies on Tibetan Plateau and in the Antarctica have provided abundant, high resolution information about past climatic and environmental evolution over the Tibetan Plateau and Antarctica. Except for different parameters recorded in ice cores relating to climate and environment changes on Tibetan Plateau, records from ice cores extracted from different glaciers show that the discrepancies in climatic and environmental changes on the north and south parts of the plateau may be the consequence of different influencing effects from terrestrial and solar sources.Glaciological and meteorological phenomena imply that Lambert Glacier valley is an important boundary of climate in the east Antarctica, which is thought to be connected with cyclonic activities and Circum-polar Waves over the Antarctica.     

The concentration variation features of sea salt ions and non sea salt ions in a firn core recovered from Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica

A 51.85 m firn core drilled in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica, during the 1996-1997 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Expedition, has been measured for δ 18 O and major ions. Based on the high quality data of the seasonal variations of major ions, the firn core was dated with errors within ±3 years. The 51.85 m firn core record extends for 251 years (A. D. 1745-1996). The results of the glaciochemistry data of the firn core show that the mean concentrations of Cl -, Na + and Mg 2+ are similar to those reported from other coastal areas in East Antarctica. However, mean concentrations of Ca 2+ are much higher than those reported from other regions, this anomaly phenomenon may be related to the strong local terrestrial sources. It is found that the variations of three kinds of sea salt ions (Cl -, Na + and Mg 2+ ) in the past 150 years show very similarly rising trends, which may be the results the Southern Hemisphere warming in the past century.     

Effect of climatic change on surface environments in the typical region of Horqin Sandy Land

The town of Agura,a typical region in Horqin Sandy Land,was selected as the study area in this paper.Using 12 remote sensing images and climatic data from the past 20 years,the effects of climate change on surface environments were analyzed.The impact indices of climatic factors,along with their corresponding ranks,were used to characterize the responses of different types of surface environments to climate change.Results show that in the past 20 years,the surface environments of the study area have been deteriorating.Furthermore,there is a positive relationship between the changes in surface environments and those in climatic factors.Various climatic factors influence surface environments in different ways and at different levels.The most sensitive factor is relative humidity,followed by precipitation and evaporation.Overall,moisture is the key factor that affects the changes in surface environments of arid and semi-arid areas.     

Accumulation and geochemical evidence for the Little Ice Age episode in eastern Antarctica

Data on accumulation and concentration of chemical compounds recorded in an essentially unexplored area(Dome Argus)of the Indian Ocean sector of eastern Antarctica during the past 2,680 years(680 B.C. to 1999 A.D.) are presented. During the first 1, 700 years(680 B. C. to 1000 A. D.), the accumulation data shows a slightly decreasing trend, while chemical ions appear to be stable, representing a stable climatic condition. An intensive increasing trend of the accumulation occurred during the 12^th to 14^th century. The period from 15^th to 19^th century was characterized by a rapid reducing accumulation and concentrations of volatile compounds suffering post-depositional loss linked to sparse precipitation amount,which was temporally consistent with the Little Ice Age(LIA) episode. Comparison between observed accumulation rates with other eastern Antarctic ice cores show a consistent decreasing trend during LIA, while sea salt and dust-originated ions increased due to sea ice extent and intensified atmospheric transportation. Distribution of volcanic originated sulfate over the Antarctic continent show a significant change during the 15^th century, coincident with the onset of the LIA. These results are important for the assessment of Antarctic continent mass balance and associated interpretation of the Dome A deep ice core records.     

Spatial and temporal transferability of Degree-Day Model and Simplified Energy Balance Model:a case study

Glacier mass balance, the difference between accumulation and ablation at the glacier surface, is the direct reflection of the local climate regime. Under global warming, the simulation of glacier mass balance at the regional scale has attracted increasing interests. This study selects Urumqi Glacier No. 1 as the testbed for examining the transferability in space and time of two commonly used glacier mass balance simulation models: i.e., the Degree-Day Model(DDM) and the simplified Energy Balance Model(s EBM). Four experiments were carried out for assessing both models’ temporal and spatial transferability. The results show that the spatial transferability of both the DDM and s EBM is strong, whereas the temporal transferability of the DDM is relatively weak. For all four experiments, the overall simulation effect of the s EBM is better than that of the DDM. At the zone around Equilibrium Line Altitude(ELA), the DDM performed better than the s EBM.Also, the accuracy of parameters, including the lapse rate of air temperature and vertical gradient of precipitation at the glacier surface, is of great significance for improving the spatial transferability of both models.     

乌鲁木齐河流域不同水体中的氧稳定同位素

The variations of the stable oxygen isotope in different water mediums in Urumqi River Basin, China, are analyzed. The stable oxygen isotope in precipitation has marked temperature effect either under synoptic or seasonal scale at the head of Urumqi River. The linear regression equations of δ^18O against temperature are δ^18O=-0.94T-12.38 and δ^18O=1.29T-13.05 under the two time scales, respectively. The relatively large δ^18O/temperature slopes show the strong sensitivity of δ^18O in precipitation to temperature variation at the head of Urumqi River. According to the analyses on the δ^18O in precipitation sampled at three stations with different altitudes along Urumqi River, altitude effect is notable in the drainage basin. The δ^18O/altitude gradients have distinct differences: the gradient from Urumqi to Yuejinqiao is merely -0.054‰/hm, but -0.192‰/hm from Yuejinqiao to Daxigou, almost increasing by 2.6 times over the former. No altitude effect is found in surface firn the east branch of Glacier No. 1 at the head of Urumqi River, showing that precipitation in the glacier is from the cloud cluster with the same condensation level. Influenced by strong ablation and evaporation, the δ^18O in surface firn increases with increasing altitude sometimes. Survey has found that the δ^18O in meltwater at the terminus of Glacier No. 1 and in stream water at Total Control have the similar change trend with the former all smaller than the latter, which displays the different runoff recharges, and all mirror the regime of temperature in the same term basicallv.     

青藏高原各拉丹冬冰芯记录的季节气温变化

A 70-year history of precipitation δ18O record has been retrieved using an ice core drilled from a plat portion of the firn area in the Guoqu Glacier (33o34′37.8″ N, 91o10′35.3″ E, 5720 m a.s.l.) on Mt. Geladaindong (the source region of Yangtze River) during October and November, 2005. Based on the seasonality of δ18O records and the significant positive relationships between monsoon/non-monsoon δ18O values and summer/spring air temperature from the nearby meteorological stations, the history of summer and spring air temperature have been reconstructed for the last 70 years. The results show that both summer and spring air temperature variations present similar trends during the last 70 years. Regression analysis indicates that the slope of the temperature-δ18O relationship is 1.3℃/‰ for non-monsoon δ18O values and spring air temperature, and 0.4℃/‰ for monsoon δ18O values and summer air temperature. Variation of air temperature recorded in the ice core is consistent with that in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), however, the warming trend in the Geladaindong region is more intense than that in the NH, reflecting a higher sensitivity to global warming in the high elevation regions. In addition, warming trend is greater in spring than in summer.     

Evaluation of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite precipitation products for drought monitoring over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin,China

Drought is one of the most frequent and widespread natural disasters and has tremendous agricultural, ecological, societal, and economic impacts. Among the many drought indices, the standardized precipitation index(SPI) based on monthly precipitation data is simple to calculate and has multiscale characteristics. To evaluate the applicability of high spatiotemporal resolution satellite precipitation products for drought monitoring, based on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) products and station-based meteorological data, the SPI values at different time scales(1, 3, 6, and 12 months) were calculated for the period of 1998–2016 in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin(MLRYRB). The temporal correlations show that there is a high degree of consistency between calculations at the different time scales(1, 3, 6 and 12 months) based on the two data sources and that the amplitude of fluctuations decreases with increasing time scale. In addition, the Mann-Kendall(MK) test method was applied to analyze the trends from 1998 to 2016, and the results suggest that wetting trends clearly prevailed over drying trends. Moreover, a correlation analysis of the two data sources based on 60 meteorological stations was performed with the SPI values at different time scales. The correlation coefficients at the short time scales(1, 3, and 6 months) are all greater than 0.7, and the correlation coefficient at the long time scale(12 months) is greater than 0.5. In summary, the results demonstrate that the TRMM 3 B43 precipitation product provides a new data source that can be used for reliable drought monitoring in the MLRYRB.     

1960年以来中国天山冰川面积及气候变化

Based on the statistics of glacier area variation measured in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains since 1960,the response of glacier area variation to climate change is discussed systematically.As a result,the total area of the glaciers has been reduced by 11.5% in the past 50 years,which is a weighted percentage according to the glacier area variations of 10 drainage basins separated by the Glacier Inventory of China (GIC).The annual percentage of area changes (APAC) of glaciers in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains is 0.31% after the standardization of the study period.The APAC varies widely for different drainage basins,but the glaciers are in a state of rapid retreat,generally.According to the 14 meteorological sta-tions in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains,both the temperature and precipitation display a marked increasing tendency from 1960 to 2009 at a rate of 0.34℃·(10a)-1 and 11 mm·(10a) -1,respectively.The temperature in the dry seasons (from November to March) increases rapidly at a rate of 0.46℃·(10a)-1,but the precipitation grows slowly at 2.3 mm·(10a)-1.While the temperature in the wet seasons (from April to October) grows at a rate of 0.25℃·(10a)-1,but the precipitation increases at 8.7 mm·(10a)-1.The annual and seasonal climatic trends ac-celerate the retreat of glaciers.     

A COMPARISON: PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE RECORDS OF CHINESE LESS AND ANTARCTIC ICE CORES OVER LAST 150,000 YEARS

Studies on Chinese loess and a comparison with Antarctic ice cores provided a general pattern of global environmental change and the regional differentiation over last 150,000 years. Climatic change revealed by magnetic susceptibility of Linxia loess section in China was paralled with temperature variation revealed by SD of Vostok ice core over last 150,000 years, which indicates a pattern of climatic change tendencies on a longscale (thousand years). However, the ranges of variation at the same phase, especially, during the last Interglacial age (80,000-140,000 a.B.P.) were more different between Chinese loess sections and Antarctic ice cores.     

The climatic and environmental features on both sides of the Lambert Glacier Basin

During the 1992-1993 joint Australian-Chinese over-snow traverse of the western Lambert Glacier Basin (LGB), two firn cores were drilled respectively at MGA and LGB16. During the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 austral summers, two firn cores were drilled respectively at DT001 and DT085 on the eastern LGB. Based on the measurements made during the expeditions, the climatic and environmental features on both sides of the LGB have been studied. Results show that during the past 50 years, the trends of both air temperature and accumulation rate show a slight increase on the east side of the LGB, in contrast to the west side of the LGB. The spatial trends of the accumulation rate measured by accumulation canes at 2 km intervals along the nearly 500 km of the traverse lines on both sides of the LGB are different. Moreover, correlations of δ18O vs T10 along the two sides of the LGB are also different. In addition, the variations of sea salt ion concentrations show different trends in the past 50 years. All the evidence shows that the Lambert Glacier is a dividing region for the different climatic regimes over the East Antarctic ice sheet, which may be due to different moisture resources resulting from special local circumfluence such as cyclone activities, local terrain influences.     

Lambert冰川流域东西两侧气候环境变化

1992~1993年,中国科学家参加了澳大利亚南极考察队对Lambert冰川流域西侧的考察,1996起,中国南极考察队对Lambert流域东侧进行了多次考察。本文基于以上考察的研究成果,对Lambert冰川流域东西两侧气候环境变化特征进行了对比研究。结果表明：Lambert冰川两侧无论是降水还是温度,在几十年时间尺度上其变化趋势都存在着明显差异,Lambert冰川东西两侧从海岸向内陆近500 km断面上表面积累速率的分布截然不同,同时,Lambert冰川东西两侧的δ¹⁸O随温度的变化率 (又简称δ－温度梯度) 差别也很大,另外,反映水汽输送强度的海盐离子浓度近50年来的变化趋势相反。以上证据表明,Lambert冰川谷地可能是东南极洲一条重要的气候界线,其原因可能是特殊的局地环流 (顺时针的气旋活动) 导致不同的水汽来源,再加上局部地形的影响所致。     

Recent progress of glaciological studies in China

1IntroductionIn the early 1960s, glaciers in western China were classified into maritime- and continental-types by different glacial environment and physical characteristics (Shi and Xie, 1964). With extensive glaciological investigations in the western regions (Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology of CAS, 1988), Lai and Huang (1990) suggested a new classification of temperate, subpolar and quasipolar glaciers, corresponding to the maritime-, subcontinental- and extremely contin…     

Recent progress of glaciological studies in China

Glacier inventory compilation during the past 20 years and modifications of that for the Eastern Pamir and Banggong Lake indicate that there are 46,342 modern glaciers with a total area and volume of 59415 km2 and 5601 km3 respectively in China. These glaciers can be classified into maritime and continental (including sub-continental and extremely continental) types. Researches show that glaciers in China have been retreating since the Little Ice Age and the mass wastage was accelerated during the past 30 to 40 years. Being an important part of glaciological studies in China, ice core climatic and environmental studies on Tibetan Plateau and in the Antarctica have provided abundant, high resolution information about past climatic and environmental evolution over the Tibetan Plateau and Antarctica. Except for different parameters recorded in ice cores relating to climate and environment changes on Tibetan Plateau, records from ice cores extracted from different glaciers show that the discrepancies in climatic and environmental changes on the north and south parts of the plateau may be the consequence of different influencing effects from terrestrial and solar sources. Glaciological and meteorological phenomena imply that Lambert Glacier valley is an important boundary of climate in the east Antarctica, which is thought to be connected with cyclonic activities and Circum-polar Waves over the Antarctica.     

Accumulation Rate Measurements at Taylor Dome, East Antarctica: Techniques and Strategies for Mass Balance Measurements in Polar Environments

Accumulation rate measurements on the East Antarctic plateau are challenging due to both spatial and temporal variability. Annual stratigraphy is often not reliably or consistently preserved in the firn, and so accumulation cannot be determined from snow pit stratigraphy. We present a suite of accumulation rate measurements collected over several seasons at Taylor Dome, East Antarctica. We compare net accumulation results from direct burial rate measurements and β -activity firn cores along a 35 km traverse. The two methods are consistent and show that the net accumulation varies from greater than 10 cm a⁻¹ to about 1 cm a⁻¹ (ice equivalent) southwest to northeast across the dome. We map the depth of shallow radar layering to interpolate and extrapolate these point-location measurements and show that considerable variations occur over kilometer scales resulting from subtle surface topography. We also present accumulation rates estimated from concentration of the cosmogenic isotope ¹⁰Be and from activity profiles of ²¹⁰Pb. Finally, satellite passive microwave data are used to estimate spatially averaged accumulation rates on the regional to continental scale to provide a context for these local observations. We show that robust mass balance measurements in this environment must rely on spatial and/or temporal averaging.     

The Impact Of Extreme Summer Melt on Net Accumulation of an Avalanche Fed Glacier,as Determined by Ground‐Penetrating Radar

Glacier mass balance is more sensitive to warming than cooling, but feedbacks related to the exposure of previously buried firn and ice in very warm years is not generally considered in sensitivity studies. A ground‐penetrating radar survey in the accumulation area of Rolleston Glacier, New Zealand shows that five years of previous net accumulation was removed by melt from parts of the glacier above the long‐term equilibrium line altitude during a single negative mass balance year. Rolleston Glacier receives a large amount of accumulation from snow avalanches, which may temporarily buffer it from climate warming by providing additional mass that has accumulated at higher elevations, effectively increasing the elevation range of the glacier. However, glaciers reliant on avalanche input may have high sensitivity to climatic variations because the extra mass is concentrated on a small part of the glacier, and small variations in avalanche input could have a large impact on overall glacier accumulation. Further research is needed to better estimate the amount and spatial distribution of accumulation by avalanche in order to quantify the climate sensitivity of small avalanche‐fed glaciers.     

Annual Mass-balance Series of a Temperate Glacier in the Caucasus, Reconstructed from an Ice Core

Identification of annual layers in a firn/ice core provides a possibility to reconstruct the mass-balance sequence for glaciers where no direct observations have been carried out. A number of cores is obtained from the boreholes drilled on the Djantugan firn plateau in the crest zone (3620 m a.s.l.) of the Main Caucasus Ridge. A geophysical radar survey shows ice thickness here being equal to 212 m, close to the maximum value within the plateau (235 m). The deepest layer achieved, c .93 m below the surface, is dated back to 1937. Annual layers are identified by visual and textural petrographic analysis in situ . Geochemical and isotope methods are also applied. Ambiguities in discerning annual boundaries due to epigenetic firn/ice homogenization can be eliminated by means of complex methods. Since the probability of complete melting of an annual layer is estimated as negligible, the reconstructed continuous mass-balance time series, after inserting rheological and inclinometrical amendments, describe the character of glacier evolution. It is corroborated with indirect calculation using data from the nearest weather station and with mass-balance series of the neighbouring Djankuat Glacier, one of 10 reference glaciers in the world. Located south of the meganticlinorium axis, the boring site is characterized by glacier budget improvement during the last decades similar to the northern slope – less rapidly until the 1980s and more rapidly since.