scholarly journals Local Knowledge and Rangeland Protection on the Tibetan Plateau: Lessons for Conservation and Co-management of the Upper Nu-Salween and Yellow River Watersheds

2019 ◽  
pp. 259-277
Author(s):  
Ka Ji Jia
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau

scholarly journals Extension of the Upper Yellow River into the Tibet Plateau: Review and New Data

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Zhengchen Li ◽  
Xianyan Wang ◽  
Jef Vandenberghe ◽  
Huayu Lu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Published Data ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
River Terraces ◽  
The Tibet Plateau

The Wufo Basin at the margin of the northeastern Tibet Plateau connects the upstream reaches of the Yellow River with the lowland catchment downstream, and the fluvial terrace sequence in this basin provides crucial clues to understand the evolution history of the Yellow River drainage system in relation to the uplift and outgrowth of the Tibetan Plateau. Using field survey and analysis of Digital Elevation Model/Google Earth imagery, we found at least eight Yellow River terraces in this area. The overlying loess of the highest terrace was dated at 1.2 Ma based on paleomagnetic stratigraphy (two normal and two reversal polarities) and the loess-paleosol sequence (12 loess-paleosol cycles). This terrace shows the connections of drainage parts in and outside the Tibetan Plateau through its NE margin. In addition, we review the previously published data on the Yellow River terraces and ancient large lakes in the basins. Based on our new data and previous researches, we conclude that the modern Yellow River, with headwaters in the Tibet Plateau and debouching in the Bohai Sea, should date from at least 1.2 Ma. Ancient large lakes (such as the Hetao and Sanmen Lakes) developed as exorheic systems and flowed through the modern Yellow River at that time.

scholarly journals Evaluating the streamflow simulation capability of PERSIANN-CDR daily rainfall products in two river basins on the Tibetan Plateau

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomang Liu ◽  
Tiantian Yang ◽  
Koulin Hsu ◽  
Changming Liu ◽  
Soroosh Sorooshian
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Yangtze River Basin ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Streamflow Simulation

Abstract. On the Tibetan Plateau, the limited ground-based rainfall information owing to a harsh environment has brought great challenges to hydrological studies. Satellite-based rainfall products, which allow a better coverage than both radar network and rain gauges on the Tibetan Plateau, can be suitable observation alternatives for investigating the hydrological processes and climate change. In this study, a newly developed daily satellite-based precipitation product, termed Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks–Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR), is used as input of a hydrologic model to simulate streamflow in the upper Yellow and Yangtze River Basin on the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that the simulated streamflow using PERSIANN-CDR precipitation is closer to observation than that using limited gauge-based precipitation interpolation in the upper Yangtze River Basin. The simulated streamflow using gauge-based precipitation are higher than the streamflow observation during the wet season. In the upper Yellow River Basin, PERSIANN-CDR precipitation and gauge-based precipitation have similar good performance in simulating streamflow. The evaluation of streamflow simulation capability in this study partly indicates that PERSIANN-CDR rainfall product has good potentials to be a reliable dataset and an alternative information source besides the sparse gauge network for conducting long term hydrological and climate studies on the Tibetan Plateau.

scholarly journals Causes of glacier change in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers on the Tibetan Plateau

2003 ◽  
Vol 49 (167) ◽  
pp. 539-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Jianping ◽  
Ding Yongjian ◽  
Chen Rensheng ◽  
Liu Shiyin ◽  
Lu Anxin
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Source Regions ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
River Drainages ◽  
Topographical Maps

AbstractGlaciers are an important element of the environment in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers on the Tibetan Plateau. Using Geographical Information System techniques, we have studied changes in the location of glacier margins in two areas: the Geladandong area in the headwaters of the Yangtze, and the A’nyêmaqên Shan mountains in the headwaters of the Yellow River. Marginal positions during the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum, in 1969 in the Geladandong area, in 1966 in the A’nyêmaqên Shan, and in 2000 in both areas, were determined using aerial photographs, satellite images, topographical maps and digital elevation models. Extrapolating the results to the entire source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, we estimate that the total glacierized area decreased about 1.7% between 1969 and 2000 in the Geladandong area and about 17% between 1966 and 2000 in the A’nyêmaqên Shan. Glaciers were stable or advanced slightly between 1969 and 1995 in the Geladandong area, and between 1966 and 1981 in the A’nyêmaqên Shan, but have retreated since the mid-1990s in the former and since the 1980s in the latter. Significant increases in summer air temperature and decreases in annual precipitation are the causes of the present retreat. As a consequence of the retreat, water storage, as ice, in the Yangtze and Yellow river drainages is decreasing by 65–70 × 106 m3 a−1.

scholarly journals Investigating water budget dynamics in 18 river basins across the Tibetan Plateau through multiple datasets

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 351-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbin Liu ◽  
Fubao Sun ◽  
Yanzhong Li ◽  
Guoqing Zhang ◽  
Yan-Fang Sang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Basin Scale

Abstract. The dynamics of basin-scale water budgets over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are not well understood nowadays due to the lack of in situ hydro-climatic observations. In this study, we investigate the seasonal cycles and trends of water budget components (e.g. precipitation P, evapotranspiration ET and runoff Q) in 18 TP river basins during the period 1982–2011 through the use of multi-source datasets (e.g. in situ observations, satellite retrievals, reanalysis outputs and land surface model simulations). A water balance-based two-step procedure, which considers the changes in basin-scale water storage on the annual scale, is also adopted to calculate actual ET. The results indicated that precipitation (mainly snowfall from mid-autumn to next spring), which are mainly concentrated during June–October (varied among different monsoons-impacted basins), was the major contributor to the runoff in TP basins. The P, ET and Q were found to marginally increase in most TP basins during the past 30 years except for the upper Yellow River basin and some sub-basins of Yalong River, which were mainly affected by the weakening east Asian monsoon. Moreover, the aridity index (PET/P) and runoff coefficient (Q/P) decreased slightly in most basins, which were in agreement with the warming and moistening climate in the Tibetan Plateau. The results obtained demonstrated the usefulness of integrating multi-source datasets to hydrological applications in the data-sparse regions. More generally, such an approach might offer helpful insights into understanding the water and energy budgets and sustainability of water resource management practices of data-sparse regions in a changing environment.

Late Miocene–Quaternary rapid stepwise uplift of the NE Tibetan Plateau and its effects on climatic and environmental changes

2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jijun Li ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
Chunhui Song ◽  
Baotian Pan ◽  
Yuzhen Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Yellow River Basin ◽  
Tectonic Geomorphology ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Asian Winter Monsoon ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Ne Tibetan Plateau

AbstractThe way in which the NE Tibetan Plateau uplifted and its impact on climatic change are crucial to understanding the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau and the development of the present geomorphology and climate of Central and East Asia. This paper is not a comprehensive review of current thinking but instead synthesises our past decades of work together with a number of new findings. The dating of Late Cenozoic basin sediments and the tectonic geomorphology of the NE Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the rapid persistent rise of this plateau began ~8 ± 1 Ma followed by stepwise accelerated rise at ~3.6 Ma, 2.6 Ma, 1.8–1.7 Ma, 1.2–0.6 Ma and 0.15 Ma. The Yellow River basin developed at ~1.7 Ma and evolved to its present pattern through stepwise backward-expansion toward its source area in response to the stepwise uplift of the plateau. High-resolution multi-climatic proxy records from the basins and terrace sediments indicate a persistent stepwise accelerated enhancement of the East Asian winter monsoon and drying of the Asian interior coupled with the episodic tectonic uplift since ~8 Ma and later also with the global cooling since ~3.2 Ma, suggesting a major role for tectonic forcing of the cooling.

scholarly journals Investigating basin-scale water budget dynamics in 18 rivers across Tibetan Plateau through multiple datasets

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbin Liu ◽  
Fubao Sun ◽  
Yanzhong Li ◽  
Guoqing Zhang ◽  
Yan-Fang Sang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Basin Scale

Abstract. The dynamics of basin-scale water budgets are not well understood nowadays over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) due to the lack of hydro-climatic observations. In this study, we investigate seasonal cycles and trends of water budget components (e.g., precipitation-P, evapotranspiration-ET and runoff-Q) in eighteen TP river basins during the period 1982–2011 through the use of multi-source datasets (e.g., in situ observations, satellite retrievals, reanalysis outputs and land surface model simulations). A water balance-based two-step procedure, which considers the changes in basin-scale water storage at the annual scale, is also adopted to calculate actual ET. The results indicated that precipitation (mainly snowfall from mid-autumn to next spring), which mainly concentrated during June–October (varied among different monsoons-impacted basins), was the major contributor to the runoff in TP basins. Increased P, ET and Q were found in most TP basins during the past 30 years except for the upper Yellow River basin and some sub-basins of Yalong River, which were mainly affected by the weakening East Asian Monsoon. Moreover, the aridity index (PET/P) and runoff coefficient (Q/P) decreased in most basins, which were in agreement with the warming and moistening climate in the Tibetan Plateau. The results obtained demonstrated the usefulness of integrating multi-source datasets to hydrological applications in the data-sparse regions. More generally, such approach might offer helpful insights towards understanding the water and energy budgets and sustainability of water resource management practices of data-sparse regions in a changing environment.

scholarly journals Combined Low-/High-Density Modern and Ancient Genome-Wide Data Document Genomic Admixture History of High-Altitude East Asians

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liu ◽  
Mengge Wang ◽  
Pengyu Chen ◽  
Zheng Wang ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
High Density ◽  
National Database ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Admixture Proportion ◽  
East Asians

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is considered to be one of the last terrestrial environments conquered by the anatomically modern human. Understanding of the genetic background of highland Tibetans plays a pivotal role in archeology, anthropology, genetics, and forensic investigations. Here, we genotyped 22 forensic genetic markers in 1,089 Tibetans residing in Nagqu Prefecture and collected 1,233,013 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the highland East Asians (Sherpa and Tibetan) from the Simons Genome Diversity Project and ancient Tibetans from Nepal and Neolithic farmers from northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from public databases. We subsequently merged our two datasets with other worldwide reference populations or eastern ancient Eurasians to gain new insights into the genetic diversity, population movements, and admixtures of high-altitude East Asians via comprehensive population genetic statistical tools [principal component analysis (PCA), multidimensional scaling plot (MDS), STRUCTURE/ADMIXTURE, f3, f4, qpWave/qpAdm, and qpGraph]. Besides, we also explored their forensic characteristics and extended the Chinese National Database based on STR data. We identified 231 alleles with the corresponding allele frequencies spanning from 0.0005 to 0.5624 in the forensic low-density dataset, in which the combined powers of discrimination and the probability of exclusion were 1–1.22E-24 and 0.999999998, respectively. Additionally, comprehensive population comparisons in our low-density data among 57 worldwide populations via the Nei’s genetic distance, PCA, MDS, NJ tree, and STRUCTURE analysis indicated that the highland Tibeto-Burman speakers kept the close genetic relationship with ethnically close populations. Findings from the 1240K high-density dataset not only confirmed the close genetic connection between modern Highlanders, Nepal ancients (Samdzong, Mebrak, and Chokhopani), and the upper Yellow River Qijia people, suggesting the northeastern edge of the TP served as a geographical corridor for ancient population migrations and interactions between highland and lowland regions, but also evidenced that late Neolithic farmers permanently colonized into the TP by adopting cold-tolerant barley agriculture that was mediated via the acculturation of idea via the millet farmer and not via the movement of barley agriculturalist as no obvious western Eurasian admixture signals were identified in our analyzed modern and ancient populations. Besides, results from the qpAdm-based admixture proportion estimation and qpGraph-based phylogenetic relationship reconstruction consistently demonstrated that all ancient and modern highland East Asians harbored and shared the deeply diverged Onge/Hoabinhian-related eastern Eurasian lineage, suggesting a common Paleolithic genetic legacy existed in high-altitude East Asians as the first layer of their gene pool.

scholarly journals Missing water from the Qiangtang Basin on the Tibetan Plateau

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Yong ◽  
Chi-Yuen Wang ◽  
Jiansheng Chen ◽  
Jiaqi Chen ◽  
D.A. Barry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Outer Region ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Satellite Mission ◽  
Qiangtang Basin ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Terrestrial Water

The Qiangtang Basin is a large endorheic basin in the inner part of the Tibetan Plateau, and has been thought to be a dry region in contrast with the surrounding wet outer region that feeds all the major Asian rivers. Combining surface hydrological data with modeling and satellite data from 2002 to 2016 CE, our study reveals that an enormous amount of water, ~54 ± 4 km3, is unaccounted for annually in the Qiangtang Basin. The amount of missing water is comparable to the total annual discharge of the Yellow River. Data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission show little increase of local terrestrial water storage. Thus, the missing water must have flowed out of the basin through underground passages. Interpreting this result in the context of recent seismic and geological studies of Tibet, we suggest that a significant amount of meteoric water in the Qiangtang Basin leaks out by way of groundwater flow through deep normal faults and tensional fractures along the nearly north-south rift valleys that are oriented subnormal to and cross the surficial hydrological divide on the southern margin of the basin. Cross-basin groundwater outflow of such a magnitude defies the traditional view of a basin-scale water cycle and leads to a very different picture from the previous hydrological view of the Qiangtang Basin. This finding calls for major rethinking of the regional water balance.

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