Unbalanced sediment budgets in the catchment–alluvial fan system of the Kuitun River (northern Tian Shan, China): Implications for mass-balance estimates, denudation and sedimentation rates in orogenic systems

In this study, energy and mass balance is quantified using an energy balance model to represent the glacier melt of Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Chinese Tian Shan. Based on data from an Automatic Weather Station (4025 m a.s.l) and the mass balance field survey data nearby on the East Branch of the glacier, the “COupled Snowpack and Ice surface energy and Mass balance model” (COSIMA) was used to derive energy and mass balance simulations during the ablation season of 2018. Results show that the modeled cumulative mass balance (−0.67 ± 0.03 m w.e.) agrees well with the in-situ measurements (−0.64 ± 0.16 m w.e.) (r2 = 0.96) with the relative difference within 5% during the study period. The correlation coefficient between modeled and observed surface temperatures is 0.88 for daily means. The main source of melt energy at the glacier surface is net shortwave radiation (84%) and sensible heat flux (16%). The energy expenditures are from net longwave radiation (55%), heat flux for snow/ice melting (32%), latent heat flux of sublimation and evaporation (7%), and subsurface heat flux (6%). The sensitivity testing of mass balance shows that mass balance is more sensitive to temperature increase and precipitation decrease than temperature decrease and precipitation increase.

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Future Climate Change and Its Impact on Runoff Generation from the Debris-Covered Inylchek Glaciers, Central Tian Shan, Kyrgyzstan

Water ◽

10.3390/w10111513 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1513 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Wilfried Hagg ◽

Elisabeth Mayr ◽

Birgit Mannig ◽

Mark Reyers ◽

David Schubert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Balance ◽

Hydrological Model ◽

Climate Model ◽

Global Climate Model ◽

Future Climate ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Tarim River ◽

Glacier Mass Balance ◽

Tian Shan

The heavily debris-covered Inylchek glaciers in the central Tian Shan are the largest glacier system in the Tarim catchment. It is assumed that almost 50% of the discharge of Tarim River are provided by glaciers. For this reason, climatic changes, and thus changes in glacier mass balance and glacier discharge are of high impact for the whole region. In this study, a conceptual hydrological model able to incorporate discharge from debris-covered glacier areas is presented. To simulate glacier melt and subsequent runoff in the past (1970/1971–1999/2000) and future (2070/2071–2099/2100), meteorological input data were generated based on ECHAM5/MPI-OM1 global climate model projections. The hydrological model HBV-LMU was calibrated by an automatic calibration algorithm using runoff and snow cover information as objective functions. Manual fine-tuning was performed to avoid unrealistic results for glacier mass balance. The simulations show that annual runoff sums will increase significantly under future climate conditions. A sensitivity analysis revealed that total runoff does not decrease until the glacier area is reduced by 43%. Ice melt is the major runoff source in the recent past, and its contribution will even increase in the coming decades. Seasonal changes reveal a trend towards enhanced melt in spring, but a change from a glacial-nival to a nival-pluvial runoff regime will not be reached until the end of this century.

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On the cause of glacier mass balance variations in the Tian Shan Mountains

GeoJournal ◽

10.1007/bf00812879 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 33 (2-3) ◽

pp. 311-317 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

M. B. Dyurgerov ◽

V. N. Mikhalenko ◽

M. G. Kunakhovitch ◽

S. N. Ushnurtsev ◽

Chaohai Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Balance ◽

Glacier Mass Balance ◽

Tian Shan Mountains ◽

Tian Shan

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Comparison of glaciological and geodetic mass balance at Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Tian Shan, Central Asia

Global and Planetary Change ◽

10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.01.001 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 114 ◽

pp. 14-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Puyu Wang ◽

Zhongqin Li ◽

Huilin Li ◽

Wenbin Wang ◽

Hongbing Yao

Keyword(s):

Mass Balance ◽

Central Asia ◽

Geodetic Mass Balance ◽

Tian Shan

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Assessment of Nitrogen Pollution Load Potential for Groundwater by Mass Balance in the Tedori River Alluvial Fan Areas, Japan

Sustainable Agriculture Research ◽

10.5539/sar.v2n1p76 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 76

Author(s):

Maruyama Toshisuke ◽

Yoshida Masashi ◽

Takase Keiji ◽

Takimoto Hiroshi ◽

Noto Fumikazu

Keyword(s):

Water Balance ◽

Mass Balance ◽

Nitrogen Balance ◽

Nitrogen Pollution ◽

Alluvial Fan ◽

Balance Model ◽

Soil Horizon ◽

Pollution Load ◽

Balance Analysis ◽

Nitrogen Pollution Load Potential

<p>To assess the nitrogen pollution load potential (NPLP) of groundwater, mass balance over a recent five-year period (2006–2010) was analyzed within the Tedori River alluvial fan area, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. All components of the hydrologic cycle in polluted regions of the study area were analyzed based on water and nitrogen balance. The water balance model was based on the exchange of river water between the channel/soil surface and the aquifer horizon fractions. The water balance calculation was conducted by considering precipitation, evapotranspiration, direct runoff, and infiltration in the channel/soil horizon (Figure 2). In addition, infiltration from paddy and other land uses, recharge and effluent from the Tedori River and pumping from the wells in the aquifer horizon were considered. Based on the water balance analysis, nitrogen balance analysis was conducted. The results revealed that the nitrogen input was 1,214.2 ton/year, while nitrogen output was 959.4 ton/year. Therefore, 254.6 ton/year accumulated within the study area. In the aquifer horizon, the amount of nitrogen deposited was found to be 232.9 ton/year. The total nitrogen concentration of water samples collected from a well with a depth of 50 m was about 1.0 mg/L, which was greater than that observed for the well of 150 m depth (about 0.25 mg/L). These findings indicate that contaminating nitrogen gradually percolates into the deeper zone. The most dominant nitrogen pollutant for the study area originated from farmland (30.5%) and second is intake water (24.2%) and third is precipitation (23.8%). These three items occupied 78.5% of total pollutant.</p>

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Long-Term Assessment of Nitrogen Pollution Load Potential for Groundwater by Mass Balance Analysis in the Tedori River Alluvial Fan Area, Japan

Journal of Water Resource and Protection ◽

10.4236/jwarp.2013.52019 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 05 (02) ◽

pp. 171-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Toshisuke Maruyama ◽

Masashi Yoshida ◽

Keiji Takase ◽

Hiroshi Takimoto ◽

Shigeo Ishikawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Balance ◽

Nitrogen Pollution ◽

Alluvial Fan ◽

Pollution Load ◽

Balance Analysis ◽

Nitrogen Pollution Load Potential ◽

Mass Balance Analysis

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Industry-Driven versus Natural Groundwater Flow Regime at the Dead Sea Coastal Aquifer

Water ◽

10.3390/w13040498 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 498

Author(s):

Yehuda Levy ◽

Haim Gvirtzman

Keyword(s):

Groundwater Flow ◽

Mass Balance ◽

Flow Regime ◽

Coastal Aquifer ◽

Research Effort ◽

Dead Sea ◽

Alluvial Fan ◽

Groundwater Flow Regime ◽

Anthropogenic Development ◽

The Dead

The coexistence of nature and anthropogenic development requires continuous monitoring and research to address and respond to unforeseen threatening processes that occur with time. This is particularly relevant to the groundwater flow regime in the coastal aquifer adjacent to the Dead Sea, the level of which is dropping, and the industrial evaporation ponds, whose levels are rising. The increasing hydraulic gradient between the two water bodies has produced severe leakage through the pond embankments. To prevent this leakage, a vertical deep sealing wall was built along the embankment. In this study, the overall leakage is calculated by mass balance, and the subsurface leakage component is numerically simulated, based on the mass balance and hydrological observations. Some of the leakage discharges into surface canals and some at the Dead Sea. The leakage volume increased from 20 mcm/year in the 1980s to 100 mcm/year before the sealing wall was built (in 2012), and from 60 mcm/year once the wall was established to 80 mcm/year today. Using the calibrated model, the leakage volume is predicted to increase in the next few decades, mainly through the Ye’elim alluvial fan. Further research effort is needed to come up with new preventive measures.

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Modeling of Mass Balance Variability and Its Impact on Water Discharge from the Urumqi Glacier No. 1 Catchment, Tian Shan, China

Water ◽

10.3390/w12123297 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 3297

Author(s):

Kira Thiel ◽

Anselm Arndt ◽

Puyu Wang ◽

Huilin Li ◽

Zhongqin Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Balance ◽

Water Discharge ◽

Measurement Data ◽

Model Performance ◽

Time Lapse ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Balance Model ◽

Surface Mass ◽

Ice Surface ◽

Tian Shan

Originating in the Tian Shan mountains, Urumqi River plays a key role in terms of water supply to downstream areas. In its headwaters, Urumqi Glacier No. 1 (UG1) is the largest glacier contributing to water discharge. Assessing its response to the changing climatic conditions in the area is of major importance to quantify future water availability. We here apply COSIPY, a COupled Snowpack and Ice surface energy and mass balance model in PYthon, to UG1, implementing a new albedo parameterization which integrates site-specific bare-ice albedo values on a pixel-by-pixel basis observed by remote sensing. We assess model performance threefold: quantitatively based on long-term measurement data of (1) surface mass balance (SMB) and (2) water discharge as well as qualitatively (3) comparing simulated snow line altitudes to such imated on the basis of time-lapse photography. Comparison of the modeled SMB with annually-averaged data from ablation stakes reveals that COSIPY including the new albedo parameterization accounts for 57.6% of the variance observed in the measurements. The original albedo parameterization performs only slightly inferior (57.1%). Glacier-wide comparison between modeled and glaciological SMB shows high agreement. In terms of discharge prediction, COSIPY reproduces onset and duration of the discharge season well. Estimated discharge from the whole catchment shows shortcomings in exactly matching the measured times series, but interannual variability is captured.

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