Precipitation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (TP) in southwestern China is subject to interactions between the complex and variable terrain and the sensitive climate. The regional climate is mainly affected by three circulations: westerlies, the South Asian monsoon, and the East Asian monsoon. Spatial and temporal variations in the rainy season onset were characterised based on daily precipitation from 106 meteorological stations on the TP from 1971 to 2015. Using the Theil–Sen Median trend analysis, Mann–Kendall test and mutation detection, the characteristics and reasons for the variations during the rainy season over the plateau over the past 45 years were investigated. The following results were obtained from the analysis: (1) There were obvious regional differences in the rainy season onset over the TP, and the rainy season began on the southeastern plateau and moved northwestward. (2) The TP rainy season underwent a significant mutation in approximately 1997, and following this mutation, the area affected by the delayed rainy season increased. (3) Against the background of global warming, the rainy season trend over the TP was advanced; however, there were still several multiple contiguous concentrated areas on the plateau. (4) Before the rainy season mutation, there were two centres of delayed precipitation on the plateau, which existed primarily due to their location at the end of the plateau water vapour transport channel. After the mutation, the number of delayed precipitation centres on the plateau increased to three and presented a spatially expanding trend, which may be related to the weakening trend in atmospheric circulation.
Stable isotope and hydrochemistry reveal source and quality of groundwater around Qinghai Lake, NE Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China