Progresses in the ice formation of glaciers in China

Glaciers, formed by snowfall and characterized by movement and size, are the most sensitive indicators to climate change. The ice formation of glaciers (the processes, mechanisms and results of transformation from snow to ice) can indicate the growth condition, the formation process and the physical characteristics of glaciers. Its spatial variation can also reflect glacier change, and further reveal climate change. Studies on ice formation of glaciers in China were initiated in 1962, when Xie and others studied the ice formation of Glacier No.1 at the Urumqi River head, Tianshan Mountain. Other researchersfollowed suit and did studies on ice formation of glaciers in Qilian Mountain. As time goes by, the concept of ice formation came into being in China. This paper reviews the development history of glacier zones, and the studies of ice formation of glaciers in China since the 1960s. These studies mainly focus on Qilian Mountain, Tianshan Mountain, Altay Mountain, and the western Kunlun Mountain, Himalaya Mountain, the southeastern Tibetan and Hengduan Mountains. The paper also discusses the significance of ice formation studies, the limitation and deficiency of previous studies, and the prospects and suggestions for future studies. __________ Translated from Advances in Earth Science, 2007, 22(4): 386–395 [译自: 地球科学进展]     

秦岭太白山南麓降水中常量无机离子特征及其来源研究

以2011年11月至2014年9月连续采集的74个有效降水样品为研究载体,运用趋势分析法和相关分析法分析太白山南麓黄柏塬地区降水中常量无机离子（NH₄⁺、Ca²⁺、Na⁺、K⁺、Mg²⁺、SO₄^2-、NO₃^-、Cl^-、F^-）的化学特征,并结合富集因子法、端源贡献法及后向气流轨迹模型探究其来源。结果表明：研究区降水中各离子浓度大小顺序为Ca²⁺ > SO₄^2- > NH₄⁺ > NO₃^- > K⁺ > Na⁺ > Mg²⁺ > Cl^- > F^-,主要阳离子是Ca²⁺和NH₄⁺,共占阳离子总量的76.21%,主要阴离子是SO₄^2-和NO₃^-,共占阴离子总量的90.83%。降水总离子年平均浓度为404.64 μeq·L^-1,相对于国内外已研究的其他高山站点偏高,表现出典型的大陆型及人为源干扰的特征。受排放源、气象因子、植被、降水量等因素影响,降水总离子浓度表现出显著的季节差异,依次为冬季 > 春季 > 秋季 > 夏季。源解析结果显示降水中SO₄^2-和NO₃^-95%以上由人为源贡献,Ca²⁺和Mg²⁺主要来源于地壳风化,Na⁺海盐源和非海盐源贡献约各占一半,K⁺主要来自于非海盐贡献,而F^-和NH₄⁺则几乎全部由人为源贡献。不同路径气团影响下的降水离子组分具有明显不同,北方气团途径太原、石家庄、北京、兰州等工业发达城市,工业燃煤交通废气排放量大,降水中SO₄^2-、NO₃^-浓度均偏高,离子总浓度也明显高于南方气团。     

秦岭主峰太白山北麓降水化学特征分析

利用太白山北麓2011年12月-2013年7月共39次降水样品数据资料, 定量分析了该区域降水化学的特征和时间变化规律. 结果表明: 太白山北麓地区降水中, 除常量离子Na⁺、NH₄⁺、K⁺、Mg²⁺、Ca²⁺、F^-、Cl^-、SO₄^2-、NO₃^-外, CO₃^2-、HCO₃^-、PO₄^3-及低分子有机酸也占有相当比例. 研究区降水常量离子浓度的顺序依次为: NH₄⁺ > SO₄^2- > Ca²⁺ > NO₃^- > Na⁺ > Cl^- > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ > F^-, 离子总浓度表现出明显的季节变化: 夏季(轻度污染) < 秋季(中等污染) < 春季(严重污染) < 冬季(极重污染). 利用因子分析法得出太白山北麓地区降水组分主要有三种来源; Na⁺、Cl^-、Mg²⁺、Ca²⁺主要来自地壳源, SO₄^2-、NO₃^-、NH₄⁺主要来自人为源, K⁺和F^-主要由海盐源和人为源共同贡献. 根据Hysplit 后向气流轨迹分析, 得出不同路径气团降水离子组分不同: 受地形等因素影响, 北方路径的气团比南方路径气团离子总浓度较高; 受土壤类型影响, 西北方向气团降水Na⁺、Mg²⁺、Ca²⁺浓度较高; 受人为活动影响, 东北方向SO₄^2-、NO₃^-、NH₄⁺浓度较高.     

Impacts of global warming on patterns of temperature change in China

Global climate change has a wide range of impacts, and this paper presents an investigation on how global warming has changed the relationship between air temperature and latitude ＆ altitude using the meteorological data obtained from 160 stations in China. The investigation indicates that there are very distinct seasonal differences in patterns of temperature variation as a function of latitude and altitude： a very significant latitude effect in winter and a very significant altitude effect in summer. However, with global warming, the latitude effect in winter is weakening and the altitude effect in summer is strengthening. This pattern of change in the relationship between temperature and latitude ＆ altitude is helpful in efforts to reconstruct and explain the past temperature patterns and variations.     

Spatial and temporal characteristics of minimum temperature in winter in China during 1961–2010 from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis

Based on the surface 2?m monthly minimum temperature from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis dataset, the spatial and temporal characteristics of winter minimum temperature during 1961–2010 have been analyzed in China. Results showed that the minimum temperature in China has a significant increasing rate of 0.25° per decade calculated by the Mann–Kendall statistical test, which is consistent with the global warming trend. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis reveals that there are three main patterns that can explain more than 57.6% of the total variance of the winter minimum temperature. The EOF1, EOF2, and EOF3 account for 34.8%, 13.5%, and 13.5% of the total inter-annual variance, respectively. The EOF1, EOF2, and EOF3 patterns are synchronous in northern China, central China, and on the Tibetan Plateau. There exist a decrease trend in the corresponding time coefficients of EOF1 and EOF2 and an increase trend in that of EOF3 since the 1960s. Both the corresponding time coefficients of EOF1 and EOF2 have significant positive correlations with the 500?hPa geopotential heights of the Arctic region and negative correlations in the regions lower than 40°N, while a significant positive correlation is found between the corresponding time coefficients of EOF3 and 500?hPa geopotential heights in the low latitudes. This suggests that rapid warming occurs in northern China and on the Tibetan Plateau, while the weakest trend locates in southeast China. Thus, warming in winter is more pronounced at higher altitudes and latitudes. These patterns are tightly connected with the atmospheric circulation.     

Altitude Effects of Climatic Variation on Tibetan Plateau and Its Vicinities

High topographies,such as the Tibetan plateau(TP) in China,have been considered as the sensitive areas in response to global climate change.By analyzing the relationship between warming structure and altitude(1000-5000m) in the TP and its vicinities using the 46-year January mean observed temperature data,we found that there was a significant altitude effect of temperature warming onset time(mutation time) on the plateau and the neighboring regions:the higher the altitude,the later the climate warming happe...     

Isotopic variations in precipitation at Bangkok and their climatological significance

The stable isotopic composition of precipitation from low to mid latitudes contains information about changes of some climatic factors, such as temperature, precipitation and atmospheric circulation patterns. However, the isotopic variations in the area are very complicated because of the combined influences of these factors. Proper interpretation of the patterns of isotopic variations for palaeoclimate reconstructions in this area requires a detailed understanding of these complex stable isotope controls. The isotopic data (δ¹⁸O and δ²D) in precipitation at the International Atomic Energy Agency–World Meteorological Organization Bangkok station were collected and analysed because of the relatively long and unbroken isotopic records and the particular geographical location. The isotopic variations at Bangkok have strong seasonal patterns owing to distinct source regions in different seasons. In summer, the remote sources of water there can influence the δ¹⁸O values significantly, which is verified by the simple Rayleigh model. In winter, the mixing of isotopically distinct air masses with different origins, i.e. the continental and oceanic air masses, accounts for the isotopic variations. In the transition periods of the Asia–Australia monsoon, namely in May and October, the local vapour contribution may play a role in the isotopic ratios. On the interannual time‐scale, the influences of El Niño–southern oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) on isotopic composition are examined. The indications are that both the ENSO and IOD indices have a significant correlation with the δ¹⁸O ratios, and that the δ¹⁸O ratio in summer rains is significantly more enriched (depleted) during the warm (cold) phase of ENSO/IOD events. All the results suggest that it is useful for us in understanding the water cycling process and may be helpful in palaeoclimate reconstruction in this monsoon region. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional summer temperature decrease against global warming in China, landform effect?

The data of 160 national meteorological observatory (NMO) stations with long-term monthly temperature data for China were analyzed in this study to show the basin-centered summer temperature decrease against global warming in the past half century. The summer and winter isotherm structures of 1950s and 1990s worked out by interpolation show the isotherm structure variations: the isotherm structure generally moves northward in winter, but in summer it is characterized with separate high-temperature and low-temperature centers and the isotherm structure moves inward the centers with global warming, indicating that the temperature in the highland areas increases but that in the lowland areas decreases in the summer of the duration. The possible mechanism of the basin-centered temperature decrease in summer is discussed in this paper.     

Impact of global warming on water resource in arid area of Northwest China

Introduction The temperature in the Northern Hemisphere increased by 0.4℃ between the 1960s and the 1980s, and in the same period the temperature on the Tibetan Plateau increased by 0.5℃. Moreover, during 1990~2000, temperature rose by about 1℃(IPCC 2001). Temperature in China increased by 0.3℃ between 1951 and 1990 (DING and DAI 1994). Using 15 different general circulation models, Jones and Moberg (2003) estimated that the rate of annual warming over the continents between 1901 a…