INFLUENCE OF TECTONICS AND CLIMATE ON THE EVOLU-TION OF FLUVIAL TERRACES: A CASE STUDY OF THE HONGSHUIBA AND MAYING RIVERS IN THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF THE QILIAN MOUNTAINS

In tectonically active regions, geomorphic features such as fluvial terraces can be interpreted as the consequence of tectonic and climatic forcing. However, deciphering and distinguishing tectonic impacts and climate changes remain a challenge. In this study, we examine the terraces along the Hongshuiba river and Maying river, which flow across the Fudongmiao-Hongyazi fault in the northern margin of the Qilian Mountains. Our purpose is to analyze the relative roles of tectonics and climate in shaping orogenic topography in this area. 8~9 levels of river terraces were identified through field observations, interpretation of satellite images and using DEMs. According to relative heights and ages of T₅ of the Hongshuiba river and T₆ of the Maying river, the incision rates are calculated to be (10.2±2.0)mm/a and (12.2±2.8)mm/a, respectively. Furthermore, the thrust rate along the Fodongmiao-hongyazi fault was determined based on offset terraces and OSL dating, which are ten times less than river incision rates approximately. Comparing the uplift rate and incision rate in the northern margin of the Qilian Mountains and adjacent areas, we inferred that climate change is the most plausible controlling factor in the evolution of the river terraces, while tectonics plays a minor role in this process.     

Climate change and runoff response based on isotope analysis in an arid mountain watershed of the western Kunlun Mountains

Climate change and runoff response were assessed for the Tizinafu River basin in the western Kunlun Mountains, China, based on isotope analysis. We examined climate change in the past 50 years using meteorological data from 1957 to 2010. Results of the Mann-Kendall non-parametric technique test indicated that temperature in the entire basin and precipitation in the mountains exhibited significant increasing trends. Climate change also led to significant increasing trends in autumn and winter runoff but not in spring runoff. By using 122 isotope samples, we investigated the variations of isotopes in different water sources and analysed the contributions of different water sources based on isotope hydrograph separation. The results show that meltwater, groundwater and rainfall contribute 17%, 40% and 43% of the annual streamflow, respectively. Isotope analysis was also used to explain the difference in seasonal runoff responses to climate change. As the Tizinafu is a precipitation-dependent river, future climate change in precipitation is a major concern for water resource management.

EDITOR A. Castellarin; ASSOCIATE EDITOR S. Huang     

Temporal and spatial changes of blue water and green water in the Taihang Mountain Region,China, in the past 60 years

ABSTRACT

Appropriate allocation of limited freshwater resources to humans and ecosystems is an important issue hampering sustainable development in mountainous regions. The Taihang Mountain Region (TMR), including the Yellow and Hai river basins, is an important water source area for the North China Plain. The distributed hydrological model Water and Energy transfer Processes in Large river basins (WEP-L) was used to simulate the water cycle processes and to summarize the temporal and spatial changes in the blue and green water in the TMR from 1956 to 2015. The results show that in the period 2011–2015 the annual average blue water decreased by 7.31 × 10⁹ m³, while the annual average green water increased by 13.60 × 10⁹ m³ compared to 1956–1960. At the inter-annual time scale, the blue water exhibited a downward trend while the green water exhibited an upward trend. The amount of seasonal blue water in the TMR is ranked in descending order: summer, autumn, spring and winter, while for green water, the rank is summer, spring, autumn and winter. The amounts of blue and green water are higher on the windward than on the leeward slopes. The blue water yield is generally higher in forests and grasslands than in farmland, while the green water exhibits the opposite response. A greater emphasis should be placed on the widening gap between blue water and green water due to climate warming, and on soil and water conservation measures.     

‘Detachment’ of icefield outlet glaciers: catastrophic thinning and retreat of the Columbia Glacier (Canada)

We present an investigation of changes taking place on the Columbia Glacier, a lake-terminating outlet of the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies. The Columbia Icefield is the largest, and one of the most important, ice bodies in the Canadian Rockies. Like other ice masses, it stores water as snow and ice during the winter and releases it during warmer summer months, sustaining river flows and the ecosystems that rely on them. However, the Columbia Glacier and Icefield is shrinking. We use Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery to show that the Columbia Glacier has retreated increasingly rapidly in recent years, and suggest that this looks set to continue. Importantly, we identify a previously undocumented process that appears to be playing an important role in the retreat of this glacier. This process involves the ‘detachment’ of the glacier tongue from its accumulation area in the Columbia Icefield. This process is important because the tongue is cut off from the accumulation area and there is no replenishment of ice that melts in the glacier's ablation area by flow from upglacier. As a consequence, for a given rate of ablation, the ice in the tongue will disappear much faster than it would if the local mass loss by melting/calving was partly offset by mass input by glacier flow. Such a change would alter the relationship between rates of surface melting and rates of glacier frontal retreat. We provide evidence that detachment has already occurred elsewhere on the Columbia Icefield and that it is likely to affect other outlet glaciers in the future. Modelling studies forecast this detachment activity, which ultimately results in a smaller ‘perched’ icefield without active outlets. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

秦岭森林物候时空分布特征及对水热条件的响应

大量观测数据分析表明,全球气候正逐步变暖。植物物候现象是全球自然环境变化的指示器。物候对气候变化的响应是研究全球气候变化的重要手段之一。森林是全球生态系统的重要组成部分,森林物候特征变化是反映气候变化对森林生长影响的综合性生物指标。利用2001—2018年MOD09A1卫星数据重建了秦岭地区增强型植被指数（EVI）序列,采用最大变化速率和阈值法结合提取了秦岭森林物候参数,结果表明：（1） Whittaker滤波法在灌木、农田、森林3种生态样地重建中稳定性较好,在秦岭山地有较好的适用性。（2） 秦岭地区物候多年均值分布同秦岭地区水热条件密切,由高海拔高山区到农耕区,生长季始期(Start of Growth Season,SOG)逐渐提前,生长季末期(End of Growth Season,EOG)逐渐推迟,生长季长度(Length of Growth Season,LOG)由高海拔区向低海拔区逐渐加长。秦岭浅山区和东部伏牛山农耕带生长季（SOG）开始较早,出现在3月上旬,高山区针叶林带生长季开始的较晚,出现在5月上旬到中旬（120～135 d）之间。生长季末期（EOG）集中出现在10月~11月初（270～310 d）,高山区针叶林带生长季结束较早,浅山区植被生长季结束较晚,普遍出现在11月（300 d）以后。生长季长度（LOG）分布在150～200 d之间,低海拔地区LOG较长,大于180 d,高海拔林区生长季较短LOG集中在150～170 d。（3） 年际变化特征：2001—2018年生长季始期（SOG）呈现提前趋势,其中高海拔区提前明显,南北麓海拔低于500 m部分区域和东部伏牛山少部分区域出现推迟。生长季末期（EOG）呈现推迟趋势,其中秦岭北麓和东部中低海拔区域推迟明显,生长期长度（LOG）总体呈延长趋势。（4） 秦岭地区近17 a气温呈现上升趋势,变化率为0.02 ℃·a^-1,降水呈现不明显的上升趋势,日照时数则呈现明显的下降趋势,变化率为14.6 h·a^-1。（5） 秦岭地区物候参数同0 ℃、5 ℃和10 ℃界限温度、降水、日照时数相关性分析表明,全球变化下的升温作用是影响秦岭森林物候变化的主要因子,升温作用导致SOG提前,EOG推迟、LOG延长,主要集中在秦岭南北麓1 000~2 000 m之间,秦岭东部伏牛山低海拔区境内相关性最低,表明受温度制约较小。     

天山北麓两次暴雪天气对比分析

利用常规气象观测资料、NCEP/NCAR 1°×1°（美国气象环境预报中心—NCEP和美国国家大气研究中心—NCAR）再分析资料、全球同化系统(GDAS)数据、引入基于拉格朗日方法的气流轨迹模式（HYSPLIT_v4.9）、FY-2E卫星资料、多普勒雷达产品,对2014年2月和2016年3月天山北麓的两次暴雪天气过程进行了诊断分析。结果表明：两次暴雪过程的降雪落区均是出现在500 hPa槽前、低层切变或辐合区、高层辐散区、温度平流梯度在垂直方向大值区、相当黑体亮度温度(TBB)中心边缘的梯度较大处重叠区域。通过诊断发现,2016年暴雪天气的暴雪区上空有类似于暴雨过程的湿对称不稳定存在,使得大气潜在不稳定能量较大,为暴雪提供了不稳定机制。而在2014年暴雪天气中没有发现湿对称不稳定,说明条件对称不稳定并不是造成暴雪的唯一原因,还可能受别的不稳定机制或动力因子、热力因子影响,但其对单位时间内降雪强度有明显的增幅作用。分析雷达回波特征的演变发现,雷达回波中心的强度、持续时间、范围与强降雪中心的变化一致。     

Recent behavior and possible future evolution of the glacieret in the cirque Golemiya Kazan in the Pirin Mountains under conditions of climate warming

This research reveals relationships between climate variables and inter-annual dynamics in the area of the glacieret located in the cirque Golemiya Kazan in the Pirin Mountains. The study period is 1993–2017. The correlations are identified using statistical methods. Also, a statistical model is constructed, including some climate variables as predictors. Despite the evident decrease of the glacieret's size in the period from the 1950 s onwards, the long-term trends for the last decades have been insignificant. The main climatic factors influencing the inter-annual dynamics in the area of the glacieret are air temperature, precipitation, zonal and meridional winds and relative humidity. With respect to the dynamics in the area of the glacieret, the important trends in the different climate variables are those of the warm period air temperatures and zonal(u) wind. They also determine to a great extent its future development by acting in two opposite directions – rising temperatures in the warm period will lead to a rapid decrease of its area by the end of the melting season, while the change of wind directionfrom west to east in the warm period will increase its area. The influence of the zonal wind in the warm period is explained mainly by the location of the glacieret in the cirque. Generally, the glacieret is tilted downwards from west to east. Thus, westerly winds facilitate blowing away the snow from the surface of the glacieret, assisting its melting in the warm period. Easterly winds do not have such an effect. The combination of the opposite effects of these two most important climate variables leads to the most likely scenario for the future development of the glacieret, according to which by the middle of this century it is expected to turn into a semi-permanent snow patch, which disappears after some summers, and by the end of the century to completely melt every year before the end of the melting season.     

秦巴山地山体基面高度的提取及分布

秦巴山地是中国的南北分界线,也是黄河和长江的分水岭,其山体效应的定量化影响秦巴山地山体垂直带的分布格局、非地带性因素的作用强度和机理,以及中国暖温带和北亚热带的具体位置的确定。山体基面高度是影响山体效应最重要和关键的地形因子,其定量化和数字化提取是秦巴山地山体效应定量化研究的重要内容。本研究针对秦巴山地山体效应的定量化研究,使用30 m分辨率的STRM-1数据,分别基于山体特征线和流域分区2种方法提取了秦巴山地的山体基面高度分区,并根据地形起伏度和坡度,确定基面范围,计算了山体基面高度值。结果表明：① 基于山体特征线的方法将秦巴山地分为93个基面高度分区,基于流域分区的方法将秦巴山地分为209个基面高度分区,根据2种分区结果提取的基面高度值相差不大且均体现了秦巴山地地势的特点;② 秦巴山地山体基面高度从东向西呈阶梯状递增的趋势;③ 从南到北,秦巴山地的东段和中段均呈先增高后降低的趋势,即从大巴山向北至汉江谷地降低,再向北至秦岭升高;④ 山地的不同侧翼的山体基面高度不同,秦岭南坡的基面高度（1000~1809 m）明显高于北坡（850~1300 m）。秦巴山地山体基面高度与其植被带分布上限联系密切,实现山体基面高度的数字化提取,为山体效应的定量化研究提供了重要的技术支持。     

遥感技术在六安市矿山地质环境调查中的应用方法研究

矿山地质环境对于生态环境保护来说尤为敏感,是国土空间生态修复的重要部分,如何快速掌握矿山地物信息的变化是修复、保护和监测的关键所在,本文总结了遥感技术在矿山环境遥感调查的技术方法,结合大别山区矿山环境的特点,突出分析了采场、固体废弃物、地质灾害、恢复治理等矿山地物遥感特征,为六安大别山区国土空间生态修复、自然保护区监测、主体功能区等用途管制提供技术保障和可靠数据。     

秦岭—大巴山高分辨率气温和降水格点数据集的建立及其对区域气候的指示

本文建立了秦岭—大巴山高分辨率(～29 m×29 m)的气候格点数据集,包括逐月气温和降水、年均温和年降水、春夏秋冬气温和降水。空间插值方法采用国际上较为先进的ANUSPLIN软件内置的薄盘光滑样条函数,以经度、纬度和海拔为独立变量。空间插值结果与流行的WorldClim 2.0气候格点数据集具有一致性,但是比后者更精确、分辨率更高、细节更突出。本文揭示和证实:秦岭南麓是最冷月气温的0℃分界线。秦岭—大巴山气温具有明显的垂直地带性。6月气温直减率最大,为0.61℃/100 m;12月气温直减率最小,为0.38℃/100 m;年均气温直减率为0.51℃/100 m。夏季和秋季降水从西南向东北递减,强降水中心出现在大巴山西南坡。冬季降水从东南向西北递减。大巴山是年降水1000 mm分界线,夏季降水500mm分界线;秦岭是年降水800 mm分界线,夏季降水400 mm分界线。与大尺度大气环流对比揭示:秦岭—大巴山气温和降水空间分布主要受到东亚季风和地形因子的控制。本文进一步明确了秦岭和大巴山的气候意义:大巴山主要阻挡夏季风北上,影响降水空间分布;秦岭主要阻挡冬季风南下,影响冬季气温空间分布。本文建立的高分辨率气候格点数据集,加深了对区域气候的认识,并将有多方面的用途。