42a来天山乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川变化及趋势预测

1959-2000年间天山乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川发生了显著变化,冰川物质平衡累计达-7976.0mm,冰川末端退缩171.06m,冰川面积缩小0.217km²,冰川厚度平均减薄8.86m,冰储量减小21.9×10⁶m³,冰川运动速度平均减小39.3%,冰川成冰带谱上移,冷渗浸重结晶带消失.从冰川物质平衡反映的气候变化趋势推测,1号冰川要扭亏为盈,改变已有的巨大的物质亏损(-7976.0mm),除非要连续21a出现42a来最大正平衡(+374.0mm).已有的观测研究表明,这种情况不大可能出现,1号冰川目前的退缩趋势还将持续相当一段时间,至少在未来20～30a内不会出现明显的前进.从树木年轮反映的冷暖气候变化周期性推测,目前正处小冰期以来第三个温暖期.若这次温暖期重现62～67a周期的情况,则温暖气候还将持续20～30a左右.可见1号冰川至少还将持续退缩20～30a.     

天山乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川物质平衡过程研究

天山乌鲁木齐河源１号冰川１９５８－１９５９～１９９１－１９９２年度，以负物质平衡状态为主，累积负平衡量达８５１．９×１０４ｍ３，冰川平均亏损４５６２ｍｍ水层，与中亚山地冰川物质平衡的变化趋势相似，均是由夏季平均气温升高和年降水量减少引起的。分析１７ａ的物质平衡实测资料表明，净物质平衡与平衡线高度，以及平衡线高度与夏季平均气温和年降水量存在着密切关系，夏季平均气温变化１℃，平衡线高度变化１０２ｍ，年降水量变化１００ｍｍ，平衡线高度波动５８ｍ。     

希夏邦马峰抗物热冰川区消融期气候特征

根据１９９３年夏季在希夏邦马峰抗物热冰川考察时取得的部分气象要素观测资料，结果表明，尽管夏季气温相对较高，但由于降水频繁，冰川表面降雪，通过增加冰面反射，削弱冰面消融，导致冰川水文循环水平低。温度观测揭示出受西南季风影响，夏季冰川区处于高温环境中；又由于相对远离主山脉，且无明显的山谷形态，该冰川区局地环流不发育，整个观测期间均受制于东南和南风控制之下     

Luminescence chronology from the Verkhoyansk Mountains (North-Eastern Siberia)

This study presents new dating results from the Verkhoyansk Mountains in northeastern Siberia. Pleistocene sediments of aeolian and glacial origin have been studied and dated by infrared optically stimulated luminescence (IRSL). The chronostratigraphy of this vast area is mainly based on radiocarbon dating up to now. Aeolian sediments are widespread in the foreland of the Verkhoyansk Mountains. IRSL-dating results indicate two major periods of increased accumulation between 33 and 24 ka and between 13 and 9 ka. A new stratigraphy of Pleistocene glaciations in this area has been developed. Up to five end moraines have been identified in two catchments areas. IRSL was applied to date the sandy and silty sediments covering the glacial deposits in order to get minimum ages. Furthermore, glacial and glacio-fluvial deposits were also sampled from a few locations. According to the IRSL dating results, the uppermost end moraine was deposited prior to 50 ka. The three outermost moraines might have been formed during Early Weicheslian to Saalian times. It is very likely that no major glaciers reached the foreland of the Verkhoyansk Mountains during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, MIS 2).     

Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and glacier dynamics, western Scottish Highlands

Glacial sediments of the western Scottish Highlands are comprehensively described and characterized here for the first time, enabling the first glacial stratigraphy for the area to be proposed. This classification is based on the results of extensive geological mapping and field investigation of sedimentary sequences and their structures, X-ray diffraction and particle size distribution analyses, and comparison with deposits formed in contemporary glaciated environments. These new data are subsequently appraised in terms of their implications for late Pleistocene glacier evolution and dynamics. Together, the data suggest that much of the landscape is palimpsest, and can be attributed to the Weichselian (Late Devensian) glaciation. Subsequent glacier advance during the Younger Dryas did little to modify the area, suggesting that ice flow was dominated by sliding on a meltwater-lubricated rigid bed, with deformation of basal sediments playing a more limited role. Final deglaciation was marked by a significant increase in basal meltwater flux, reflecting the warming climate and increasing precipitation. These new palaeoglaciological and palaeoenvironmental insights advance our understanding of former glacier dynamics in the western Scottish Highlands, improve our knowledge of Pleistocene landscape evolution of this area, and enable comparisons to be made with sedimentary sequences elsewhere.     

Estimation of seasonal changes in the flow of Shirase Glacier using JERS-1/SAR image correlation

This paper presents estimates of detailed seasonal variations in ice-flow velocity for Shirase Glacier calculated using data obtained by Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR). We used 12 pairs of images (44-day repeat cycle) over the interval from 30 April 1996 to 1 July 1998 to estimate ice-flow fields using an image correlation method. Geometric registration was performed with reference to the RADARSAT Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP) image dataset. Error analysis based on feature mismatch indicated an absolute error of ±0.30 km/a and relative error of ±0.04 km/a in the estimated flow velocity. The obtained ice-flow velocity increases rapidly from the upstream region (1.18 km/a) to the grounding line, where it becomes stagnant (2.32 km/a), before accelerating gradually to 2.62–2.82 km/a in the downstream region and then increasing to 3.05–3.50 km/a at the terminus of the floating ice tongue. The ice-flow velocities in the downstream region are highly variable, depending on both the distance from the grounding line and the observed epoch (season). Most of the obtained seasonal variations in ice-flow velocity at the floating ice tongue are within the range of the associated error estimate, but the annual difference between 1997 (3.11 km/a) and 1998 (3.50 km/a) is significant, reflecting a possible acceleration in the ice-flow velocity in association with the disappearance of the floating ice tongue between April and May of 1998. In terms of the summer–winter difference in averaged air temperature, the large difference recorded in 1997 (17.0 °C) relative to 1996 (13.9 °C) corresponds to a reduced ice-flow velocity in 1997 (approximately 0.20 km/a) relative to that in 1996 (approximately 0.30 km/a), indicating interactions between air, sea ice, and glacier flow in Lützow-Holm Bay.     

Numerical Modelling of Katabatic Flow Over a Melting Outflow Glacier

A realistic simulation of katabatic flows is not a straightforward task for numerical models. One complicating factor is that katabatic flows develop within a stably stratified boundary layer, which is poorly resolved and described in many numerical models. To capture the jet-shaped shallow flow a model set-up with high vertical resolution is also required. In this study, ‘a state of the art’ mesoscale numerical model is applied in a simulation of katabatic flow over a melting glacier. A basic agreement between observations and model results is found. From scale analysis, it is concluded that the simulated flow can be classified as katabatic. Although the background flow varies in strength and direction, the simulated katabatic flow over Breidamerkurjökull is persistent. Two factors vital for this persistence are identified. First, the melting snow maintains the surface temperature close to 0 °C while the air temperature warms adiabatically as it descends the slope. This provides a ‘self enhanced’ negative buoyancy that drives the flow to a balance with local friction. Second, the jet-like shape of the resulting flow gives rise to a large ‘curvature term’ in the Scorer parameter, which becomes negative in the upper jet. This prevents vertical wave propagation and isolates the katabatic layer of the influence from the free troposphere aloft. Our results suggest that the formation of local microclimates dominated by katabatic flow is a general feature over melting glaciers. The modelled turbulence structure illustrates the importance of non-local processes. Neglecting the vertical transport of turbulence in katabatic flows is not a valid assumption. It is also found that the local friction velocity remains larger than zero through the katabatic jet, due to directional shear where the scalar wind speed approaches its maximum.     

Millennial-scale climate changes on South Georgia, Southern Ocean

The location of South Georgia (54°S, 36°W) makes it a suitable site for the study of the climatic connections between temperate and polar environments in the Southern Hemisphere. Because the mass balance of the small cirque glaciers on South Georgia primarily responds to changes in summer temperature they can provide records of changes in the South Atlantic Ocean and atmospheric circulation. We use grey scale density, weight-loss-on-ignition, and grain size analyses to show that the proportion of glacially eroded sediments to organic sediments in Block Lake was highly variable during the last 7400 cal yr B.P. We expect that the glacial signal is clearly detectable above noise originating from nonglacial processes and assume that an increase in glacigenic sediment deposition in Block Lake has followed Holocene glacier advances. We interpret proglacial lake sediment sequences in terms of summer climate warming and cooling events. Prominent millennial-scale features include cooling events between 7200 and 7000, 5200 and 4400, and 2400 and 1600 cal yr B.P. and after 1000 cal yr B.P. Comparison with other terrestrial and marine records reveals that the South Georgian record captures all the important changes in Southern Hemisphere Holocene climate. Our results reveal a tentative coupling between climate changes in the South Atlantic and North Atlantic because the documented temperature changes on South Georgia are anti-phased to those in the North Atlantic.     

冰芯化学记录的对比研究(英)

Through the comparison of two ice core chemical records from the No. 1 Glacier at the headwaier of Urumqi River, Tian Shan, China the stability of ice core records for the climatic and environmental research was discussed for the first time.     

The evidence for paraglacial sedimentation and its temporal scale in the deglacierizing basin of Small River Glacier, Canada

Spatially sampled suspended sediment data from extra-channel surfaces of different ages during rainfall events were used to infer the timescale of landscape adjustment to Little Ice Age (LIA) deglacierization at Small River Glacier, Canada. Surface ages were determined by aerial photograph interpretation. Turbidimeters were installed in three ephemeral channels on “young,” “mature” and “old” surfaces; and their response to rainfall events of different magnitudes recorded. Results showed “young” ice proximal surfaces exposed since 1977 were increasingly vulnerable to mobilization during rainfall events. A suspended sediment response from “old” surfaces exposed since 1910 was recorded for only three events with 5- and 30-year return periods. The intensity and duration of rainfall events therefore had to increase in magnitude to mobilize sediment on surfaces of increasing maturity. Hysteresis in the channel suspended sediment response further confirmed the dependence of surface response on rainfall event magnitude. The rapid temporal decline in surface response indicated that surface armoring or sediment exhaustion is stabilizing surfaces within decades of exposure from the LIA maximum (ca. 1910) at Small River Glacier. However, further perturbation, for example by glacial advance or extreme climatic events, would likely modify the pattern of suspended sediment yields by changing terrain surface mobilization thresholds and reconfiguring channel sediment stores. We therefore suggest that it is difficult to determine when “paraglacial sedimentation” ceases to influence suspended sediment yields, and therefore significantly limiting the usefulness of the term to describe the period of suspended sediment yield adjustment following deglacierization.