Processes and modes of permafrost degradation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Climate warming must lead the mainly air temperature controlled permafrost to degrade.Based on the numerical simulation,the process of permafrost degradation can be divided into five stages,i.e.,starting stage,temperature rising stage,zero geothermal gradient stage,talic layers stage,and disappearing stage,according to the shape of ground temperature profile.Permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is generally considered a relic from late Pleistocene,and has been degenerating as a whole during Holocen...     

Interaction study of permafrost and highway along Qinghai-Xizang Highway

Qinghai-Xizang Highway crosses permafrost areas, sporadic permafrost areas and seasonal frozen soil areas. It is very important to study the engineering geology of frozen soil in construc-tion of cold regions engineering, and the choices of engineering st…     

Effects of permafrost degradation on thermokarst lake hydrochemistry in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Thermokarst lakes play a key role in the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles of permafrost regions. Current knowledge regarding the changes caused by permafrost degradation to the hydrochemistry of lakes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is limited. To address this gap, a systematic investigation of thermokarst lake water, suprapermafrost water, ground ice, and precipitation was conducted in the hinterland of the QTP. The thermokarst lake water in the QTP was identified to be of the Na-HCO₃-Cl type. The mean concentrations of HCO₃⁻ and Na⁺ were 281.8 mg L⁻¹ (146.0–546.2 mg L⁻¹) and 73.3 mg L⁻¹ (9.2–345.8 mg L⁻¹), respectively. The concentrations of Li⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺, F⁻, NO₂⁻, and NO₃⁻ were relatively low. Freeze-out fractionation concentrated the dissolved solids within the lake water during winter, which was deeply deepened on lake depth and lake ice thickness. Owing to solute enrichment, the ground ice was characterized by high salinity. Conversely, repeated replenishment via precipitation led to lower solute concentrations in the ground ice near the permafrost table compared to that within the permafrost. Although lower solute concentration existed in precipitation, the soil leaching and saline ground ice melting processes enhanced the solute load in suprapermafrost water, which is considered an important water and solute resource in thermokarst lakes. The influencing mechanism of permafrost degradation on thermokarst lake hydrochemistry is presumably linked to: (1) the liberation of soluble materials sequestered in ground ice; (2) the increase of solutes in suprapermafrost water and soil pore water; and (3) the changes in lake morphometry. These results have major implications on the understanding of the effects of ground ice melting on ecosystem functions, biogeochemical processes, and energy balance in a rapidly changing climate.     

Prediction of permafrost distribution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the next 50 and 100 years

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP)has the highestand largest permafrost coverage in the low-middlelatitudes all over the world.With the progress ofChina’s Western Development,human activities areincreasing significantly on the QTP.For instance,theQinghai-Tibet Railway project started in June2001iscurrently under construction,but permafrost problemwill be one of the critical factors for the engineeringconstruction.Frost heave and permafrost settlementmay destroy engineering construction[1,2]…     

青藏高原冻土带天然气水合物的形成条件与分布预测

冻土带是天然气水合物发育的两个重要地质环境之一.青藏高原平均海拔在4000m以上,多年冻土面积约1.4×106km2.本文根据青藏高原冻土层厚度和地温梯度特征,运用天然气水合物的热力学稳定域预测方法,确定中低纬度高海拔区冻土带天然气水合物的产出特征.青藏高原多年冻土带热成因天然气水合物形成的热力学相平衡反映,水合物顶界埋深约27~560m,底界埋深约77~2070m.初步计算表明,青藏高原冻土带水合物天然气资源约1.2×1011~2.4×1014m3.在冻土层越厚、冻土层及冻土层之下沉积层的地温梯度越小的地区,最有利于天然气水合物的发育.气温的季节性变化对天然气水合物影响不大.在全球气温快速上升的背景下,青藏高原天然气水合物将处于失稳状态,天然气水合物顶界下降、底界上升,与冻土带的退化相似,分布区逐渐缩小,最终将完全消失.     

Impact of permafrost change on the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad engineering

Permafrost along the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad produces the great change under the influence of climate change, such as the decreasing of permafrost table, the rising of permafrost temperatures, etc. Climate effect on permafrost is the long-term process. Engineering action makes rapidly permafrost the large extent change. On the basis of analyzing the permafrost change under the climate change and engineering action, the thermal regime and spatial distribution of permafrost are predicted for air temperature rising 1℃ and 2℃ after 50 years in this paper. The results show that climate change results in the larger change for the thermal regime and spatial distribution of permafrost. Permafrost change will produce the great effect on the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad engineering, not only resulting in the decreasing of permafrost table beneath the roadbed, but also resulting in thawing settlement due to the thawing of ground ice near permafrost table. The idea of cooling roadbed and active protecting permafrost for the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad engineering could adjust and control the permafrost thermal state, some better methods are provided to ensure the engineering stability in the areas of warm permafrost and high ice content.     

Impacts of permafrost changes on alpine ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Alpine cold ecosystem with permafrost environment is quite sensitive to climatic changes and the changes in permafrost can significantly affect the alpine ecosystem. The vegetation coverage, grassland biomass and soil nutrient and texture are selected to indicate the regime of alpine cold ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The interactions between alpine ecosystem and permafrost were investigated with the depth of active layer, permafrost thickness and mean annual ground temperature (MAGTs). Based on the statistics model of GPTR for MAGTs and annual air temperatures, an analysis method was developed to analyze the impacts of permafrost changes on the alpine ecosystems. Under the climate change and human engineering activities, the permafrost change and its impacts on alpine ecosystems in the permafrost region between the Kunlun Mountains and the Tanggula Range of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are studied in this paper. The results showed that the per- mafrost changes have a different influence on different alpine ecosystems. With the increase in the thickness of active layer, the vegetation cover and biomass of the alpine cold meadow exhibit a significant conic reduction, the soil organic matter content of the alpine cold meadow ecosystem shows an exponential decrease, and the surface soil materials become coarse and gravelly. The alpine cold steppe ecosystem, however, seems to have a relatively weak relation to the permafrost environment. Those relationships resulted in the fact that the distribution area of alpine cold meadow decreased by 7.98% and alpine cold swamp decreased by 28.11% under the permafrost environment degradation during recent 15 years. In the future 50 years the alpine cold meadow ecosystems in different geomorphologic units may have different responses to the changes of the permafrost under different climate warming conditions, among them the alpine cold meadow and swamp ecosystem located in the low mountain and plateau area will have a relatively serious degradation. Furthermore, from the angles of grassland coverage and biological production the variation characteristics of high-cold eco- systems in different representative regions and different geomorphologic units under different climatic conditions were quantitatively assessed. In the future, adopting effective measures to protect permafrost is of vital importance to maintaining the stability of permafrost engineering and alpine cold eco- systems in the plateau.     

Long-distance atmospheric moisture dominates water budget in permafrost regions of the Central Qinghai-Tibet plateau

Precipitation plays an important role in permafrost hydrology; it can alter the hydrothermal condition of the active layer and even influence the permafrost aggradation or degradation. Moisture recycling from evaporation and transpiration can greatly contribute to local precipitation in some regions. This study selected four monitoring sites and used an isotope mixing model to investigate local moisture recycling in permafrost regions of the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). The results showed that the local water vapour flux in the summer and autumn were dominantly influenced by westerlies and the Indian monsoon. Moistures for precipitation in Wudaoliang (WDL) and Fenghuoshan (FHS) mainly came from the western QTP, eastern Tianshan Mountains, western Qilian Mountains, and the surrounding regions. In comparsion, more than half of precipitation at Tanggula (TGL) was mostly sourced from the Indian monsoon. Local moisture recycling ratios at the four sites ranged from 14% ± 3.8% to 31.6% ± 4.8%, and depended on the soil moisture and relative humidity. In particular, the higher soil moisture and relative humidity promoted local moisture recycling, but frozen ground might be a potential influencing factor as well. The moisture recycling ratios of the study area were consistent with the results from both the Qinghai Lake Basin and the Nam Co Basin, but differed from those of the northwestern QTP. This difference may indirectly confirm the great spatial variability in precipitation on the QTP. Moreover, the rising air temperature and ground temperature, increasing precipitation, higher soil moisture, higher vegetation cover, and expanding lakes in the study area may be conductive to enhancing future local moisture recycling by altering ground surface conditions and facilitating the land surface evaporation and plant transpiration.     

Characteristics of ground motion at permafrost sites along the Qinghai-Tibet railway

Based on 14 typical drilling holes distributed in the permafrost areas along the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the distribution of wave velocities of soils in the permafrost regions were determined. Using results of dynamic triaxial tests, the results of dynamic triaxiality test and time histories of ground motion acceleration in this area, characteristics of ground motion response were analyzed for these permafrost sites for time histories of ground accelerations with three exceedance probabilities (63%, 10% and 2%). The influence of ground temperature on the seismic displacement, velocity, acceleration and response spectrum on the surface of permafrost were also studied.     

Thermal effects of lateral supra‐permafrost water flow around a thermokarst lake on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Both the inflow and outflow of supra‐permafrost water to lakes play important roles in the hydrologic process of thermokarst lakes. The accompanying thermal effects on the adjacent permafrost are required for assessing their influences on the development of thermokarst lakes. For these purposes, the lake water level, temperature dynamics, and supra‐permafrost water flow of a lake were monitored on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. In addition, the spatial and temporal variation of the active layer thickness and permafrost distribution around the lake were investigated by combining ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography, and borehole temperature monitoring. The results revealed that the yearly unfrozen supra‐permafrost water flow around the lake lasted approximately 5 months. The temperature and water level measurements during this period indicate that the lake water was recharged by relatively colder supra‐permafrost water from the north‐western lakeshore and was discharged through the eastern lakeshore. This process, accompanied by heat exchange with the underlying permafrost, might cause a directional difference of the active layer thickness and permafrost characteristics around the lake. Specifically, the active layer thickness variation was minimal, and the ice‐rich permafrost was found adjacent to the lakeshore along the recharge groundwater pathways, whereas a deeper active layer and ice‐poor permafrost were observed close to the lakeshore from which the warm lake water was discharged. This study suggests that the lateral flow of warm lake water can be a major driver for the rapid expansion of thermokarst lakes and provides clues for evaluating the relationships between the thermokarst expansion process and climate warming.     

Impact of heat advection on the thermal regime of roads built on permafrost

In northern regions, transportation infrastructure can experience severe structural damages due to permafrost degradation. Water infiltration and subsurface water flow under an embankment affect the energy balance of roadways and underlying permafrost. However, the quantification of the processes controlling these changes and a detailed investigation of their thermal impacts remain largely unknown due to a lack of available long-term embankment temperature data in permafrost regions. Here, we report observations of heat advection linked to surface water infiltration and subsurface flow based on a 9-year (from 2009 to 2017) thermal monitoring at an experimental road test site built on ice-rich permafrost conditions in southwestern Yukon, Canada. Our results show that snowmelt water infiltration in the spring rapidly increases temperature in the upper portion of the embankment. The earlier disappearance of snow deposited at the embankment slope increases the thawing period and the temperature gradient in the embankment compared with the natural ground. Infiltrated summer rainfall water lowered the near-surface temperatures and subsequently warmed embankment fill materials down to 3.6-m depth. Heat advection caused by the flow of subsurface water produced warming rates at depth in the embankment subgrade up to two orders of magnitude faster than by atmospheric warming (heat conduction). Subsurface water flow promoted permafrost thawing under the road embankment and led to an increase in active layer thickness. We conclude that the thermal stability of roadways along the Alaska Highway corridor is not maintainable in situations where water is flowing under the infrastructure unless mitigation techniques are used. Severe structural damages to the highway embankment are expected to occur in the next decade.     

Influences of local factors on permafrost occurrence and their implications for Qinghai-Xizang Railway design

Permafrost is a product of long-term energy ex-change between the atmosphere and the ground. Macro-scale distribution of permafrost is controlled overall by climate. However, site-specific variables such as terrain conditions, snow cover, soil/rock type, and moisture content can significantly modify the ef-fect of climate, resulting in localized anomalies in permafrost distribution[1,2]. These factors cause distur-bances to normal thermal regimes and can determine the presence and absence of p…     

Geochemistry and genesis of authigenic pyrite from gas hydrate accumulation system in the Qilian Mountain permafrost,Qinghai, northwest China

A type of authigenic pyrites that fully fill or semi-fill the rock fractures of drillholes with gas hydrate anomalies are found in the Qilian Mountain permafrost; this type of pyrite is known as “fracture-filling” pyrite. The occurrence of “fracture-filling” pyrite has a certain similarity with that of the hydrate found in this region, and the pyrite is generally concentrated in the lower part of the hydrate layer or the hydrate anomaly layer. The morphology, trace elements, rare earth elements, and sulfur isotope analyses of samples from drillhole DK-6 indicate that the “fracture-filling” pyrites are dominated by cubic ones mainly aligned in a step-like fashion along the surfaces of rock fractures and are associated with a circular structure, lower Co/Ni and Sr/Ba, lower ΣREE, higher LREE, significant Eu negative anomalies, and Δ³⁴S_CDT positive bias. In terms of the pyrites’ unique crystal morphology and geochemical characteristics and their relationship with the hydrate layers or abnormal layers, they are closely related with the accumulation system of the gas hydrate in the Qilian Mountain permafrost. As climate change is an important factor in affecting the stability of the gas hydrate, formation of fracture-filling pyrites is most likely closely related to the secondary change of the metastable gas hydrate under the regional climate warming. The distribution intensity of these pyrites indicates that when the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) is narrowing, the hydrate decomposition at the bottom of the GHSZ is stronger than that at the top of the GHSZ, whereas the hydrate decomposition within the GHSZ is relatively weak. Thus, the zone between the shallowest and the deepest distribution of the fracture-filling pyrite recorded the largest possible original GHSZ.     

Synergistic effect of vegetation and air temperature changes on soil water content in alpine frost meadow soil in the permafrost region of Qinghai‐Tibet

Seasonal changes over 2 years (2004–2006) in soil moisture content (θ_v) of frozen alpine frost meadow soils of the Qinghai‐Tibet plateau permafrost region under three different levels of vegetation cover were investigated. Vegetation cover and air temperature changes had significant effects (synergistic effect) on θ_v and its distribution in the soil profile. During periods of soil freezing or thawing, the less the vegetation cover, the quicker the temperature drop or rise of soil water, and the shorter the duration of the soil water freeze–thaw response in the active soil layer. Under 30% and 65% vegetation cover the amplitude of variation in θ_v during the freezing period was 20–26% greater than that under 93% cover, while during the thawing period, it was 1·5‐ to 40·5‐fold greater. The freezing temperature of the surface soil layer, ^fT_s, was 1·6 °C lower under 30% vegetation cover than under 93% vegetation cover. Changes in vegetation cover of the alpine frost meadow affected θ_v and its distribution, as well as the relationship between θ_v and soil temperature (T_s). As vegetation cover decreased, soil water circulation in the active layer increased, and the response to temperature of the water distribution across the soil profile was heightened. The quantity of transitional soil phase water at different depths significantly increased as vegetation cover decreased. The influence of vegetation cover and soil temperature distribution led to a relatively dry soil layer in the middle of the profile (0·70–0·80 m) under high vegetation cover. Alpine meadow θ_v and its pattern of distribution in the permafrost region were the result of the synergistic effect of air temperature and vegetation cover. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of a thermokarst lake on soil physical properties and infiltration processes in the permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Changes in the hydrological processes in alpine soil constitute one of the several key problems encountered with studying watershed hydrology and ecosystem stability against the background of global warming. A typically developing thermokarst lake was chosen as a subject for a study using model simulation based on observations of soil physical properties, infiltration processes, and soil moisture. The results showed that the selected thermokarst lake imposed certain changes on the soil infiltration processes and, with the degree of impact intensifying, the initial infiltration rate decreased. The greatest reduction was achieved in the area of moderate impact. However, the stable infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration gradually increased in the surface layer at a depth of 10 and 20 cm, both decreasing initially and then increasing, which is correlated significantly with soil textures. Moreover, the cumulative infiltration changed in line with steady infiltration rate. Based on a comparative analysis, the Horton model helps better understand the effect on the soil infiltration processes of the cold alpine meadow close to the chosen thermokarst lake. In conclusion, the formation of the thermokarst lake reduced the water holding capacity of the alpine meadow soil and caused the hydraulic conductivity to increase, resulting in the reduction of runoff capacity in the area of the thermokarst lake.     

青藏高原热融湖塘的水热过程及其对下伏多年冻土的热影响

以青藏高原查拉坪地区一处热融湖塘(40 m×50 m,最大深度为1 m)为研究对象,由实测数据对比分析了热融湖塘与天然地表相同深度的温度变化特征.结果表明:与天然地表相比,热融湖塘融化时间长,冻结时间短,且存在接近4℃的水温变化;受太阳辐射及热对流的影响,垂向水温梯度仅在水表从4℃降温及冻结阶段较大,其余时段接近0;湖底年均温度比相同深度的天然地表高约6.4℃,湖底下部存在约14 m深随时间发展的融区,土体吸热增大,放热减小;热融湖塘2.5~3.0 m土体的年内热交换为19592.0 k J/m2,约是天然地表的230倍,其中吸热量及放热量分别为后者的1.4倍及8.7%.湖塘下部的融化夹层是深层冻土的主要热源,湖塘对下部土体放热的抑制作用是湖塘对土体产生热影响的主要原因.     

Expansion rate and geometry of floating vegetation mats on the margins of thermokarst lakes,northern Seward Peninsula,Alaska, USA

Investigations on the northern Seward Peninsula in Alaska identified zones of recent (<50 years) permafrost collapse that led to the formation of floating vegetation mats along thermokarst lake margins. The occurrence of floating vegetation mat features indicates rapid degradation of near‐surface permafrost and lake expansion. This paper reports on the recent expansion of these collapse features and their geometry is determined using geophysical and remote sensing measurements. The vegetation mats were observed to have an average thickness of 0.57 m and petrophysical modeling indicated that gas content of 1.5–5% enabled floatation above the lake surface. Furthermore, geophysical investigation provides evidence that the mats form by thaw and subsidence of the underlying permafrost rather than terrestrialization. The temperature of the water below a vegetation mat was observed to remain above freezing late in the winter. Analysis of satellite and aerial imagery indicates that these features have expanded at maximum rates of 1–2 m yr^‐1 over a 56 year period. Including the spatial coverage of floating ‘thermokarst mats’ increases estimates of lake area by as much as 4% in some lakes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

钢筋混凝土桥墩刚度和强度折减系数确定

目的是解析地预测钢筋混凝土桥墩在反复荷载作用下的非线性滞回特性。使用实验中得到的力一位移滞回曲线,对随轴压比,配筋率和配箍率的变化而变化的刚度和强度折减系数,进行了回归分析,并提出了其表达式。按照提出的理论力一位移滞回模型,能够预测现存钢筋混凝土桥墩的刚度和强度折减情况。