Growth of a high-elevation large inland lake, associated with climate change and permafrost degradation in Tibet

Abstract. This study analyzed satellite images and long term climate variables from a high-elevation meteorological station (4730 m) and streamflow records to examine hydrological response of Nam Co Lake (4718 m), the largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau, over the last 50 years. The results show the lake area extended by 51.8 km2 (2.7% of the total area) when compared with the area in 1976. This change is associated with an annual precipitation increase of 65 mm (18.6%), annual and winter mean temperature increases of 0.9°C and 2.1°C respectively, an annual runoff increase of 20% and an annual pan evaporation decrease of about 2%, during the past 20 years. The year of the change point in annual precipitation, air temperature, annual pan evaporation and runoff occurred in 1971, 1983, 1997 and 1997, respectively. The timing of the lake growth corresponds with the abrupt increase in annual precipitation and runoff since the mid-1990s. This study suggests a strong positive water balance in the largest inland lake on the Tibetan Plateau.

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Growth of a high-elevation large inland lake, associated with climate change and permafrost degradation in Tibet

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-14-481-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 481-489 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

J. Liu ◽

S. Kang ◽

T. Gong ◽

A. Lu

Keyword(s):

High Elevation ◽

Annual Runoff ◽

Annual Precipitation ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Permafrost Degradation ◽

Lake Area ◽

Pan Evaporation ◽

Precipitation Increase ◽

Nam Co Lake

Abstract. This study analyzed satellite images and long term climate variables from a high-elevation meteorological station (4730 m) and streamflow records to examine hydrological response of Nam Co Lake (4718 m), the largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau, over the last 50 years. The results show the lake area extended by 51.8 km2 (2.7% of the total area) when compared with the area in 1976. This change is associated with an annual precipitation increase of 65 mm (18.6%), annual and winter mean temperature increases of 0.9 °C and 2.1 °C respectively, an annual runoff increase of 20% and an annual pan evaporation decrease of about 2%, during the past 20 years. The year of the change point in annual precipitation, air temperature, annual pan evaporation and runoff occurred in 1971, 1983, 1997 and 1997, respectively. The timing of the lake growth corresponds with the abrupt increase in annual precipitation and runoff since the mid-1990s.

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Contrasting Evolution Patterns of Endorheic and Exorheic Lakes on the Central Tibetan Plateau and Climate Cause Analysis during 1988–2017

Water ◽

10.3390/w13141962 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 1962

Author(s):

Zhilong Zhao ◽

Yue Zhang ◽

Zengzeng Hu ◽

Xuanhua Nie

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Global Climate ◽

Rapid Expansion ◽

Annual Precipitation ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Lake Area ◽

Climate Change Research ◽

Mean Temperature

The alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are indicators of climate change. The assessment of lake dynamics on the TP is an important component of global climate change research. With a focus on lakes in the 33° N zone of the central TP, this study investigates the temporal evolution patterns of the lake areas of different types of lakes, i.e., non-glacier-fed endorheic lakes and non-glacier-fed exorheic lakes, during 1988–2017, and examines their relationship with changes in climatic factors. From 1988 to 2017, two endorheic lakes (Lake Yagenco and Lake Zhamcomaqiong) in the study area expanded significantly, i.e., by more than 50%. Over the same period, two exorheic lakes within the study area also exhibited spatio-temporal variability: Lake Gaeencuonama increased by 5.48%, and the change in Lake Zhamuco was not significant. The 2000s was a period of rapid expansion of both the closed lakes (endorheic lakes) and open lakes (exorheic lakes) in the study area. However, the endorheic lakes maintained the increase in lake area after the period of rapid expansion, while the exorheic lakes decreased after significant expansion. During 1988–2017, the annual mean temperature significantly increased at a rate of 0.04 °C/a, while the annual precipitation slightly increased at a rate of 2.23 mm/a. Furthermore, the annual precipitation significantly increased at a rate of 14.28 mm/a during 1995–2008. The results of this study demonstrate that the change in precipitation was responsible for the observed changes in the lake areas of the two exorheic lakes within the study area, while the changes in the lake areas of the two endorheic lakes were more sensitive to the annual mean temperature between 1988 and 2017. Given the importance of lakes to the TP, these are not trivial issues, and we now need accelerated research based on long-term and continuous remote sensing data.

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Review on global change status and its impacts on the Tibetan Plateau environment

Journal of Plant Ecology ◽

10.1093/jpe/rtz038 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 917-930 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aamir Latif ◽

Sana Ilyas ◽

Yangjian Zhang ◽

Yuqin Xin ◽

Lin Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Global Change ◽

Warming Trend ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Permafrost Degradation ◽

Lake Area ◽

Environmental Consequences ◽

Belt And Road ◽

Significant Temperature ◽

Research Gap

Abstract The Tibetan Plateau (TP) holds fundamental ecological and environmental significances to China and Asia. The TP also lies in the core zone of the belt and road initiative. To protect the TP environment, a comprehensive screening on current ecological research status is entailed. The teased out research gap can also be utilized as guidelines for the recently launched major research programs, i.e. the second TP scientific expedition and silk and belt road research plan. The findings showed that the TP has experienced significant temperature increase at a rate of 0.2°C per decade since 1960s. The most robust warming trend was found in the northern plateau. Precipitation also exhibited an increasing trend but with high spatial heterogeneity. Changing climates have caused a series of environmental consequences, including lake area changes, glacier shrinkage, permafrost degradation and exacerbated desertification. The rising temperature is the main reason behind the glaciers shrinkage, snow melting, permafrost degradation and lake area changes on the TP and neighboring regions. The projected loss of glacial area on the plateau is estimated to be around 43% by 2070 and 75% by the end of the century. Vegetation was responsive to the changed environments, varied climates and intensified human activities by changing phenology and productivity. Future global change study should be more oriented toward integrating various research methods and tools, and synthesizing diverse subjects of water, vegetation, atmosphere and soil.

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Change in Frozen Soils and Its Effect on Regional Hydrology in the Upper Heihe Basin, on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

10.5194/tc-2017-158 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Bing Gao ◽

Dawen Yang ◽

Yue Qin ◽

Yuhan Wang ◽

Hongyi Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

High Elevation ◽

Annual Runoff ◽

Base Flow ◽

Permafrost Degradation ◽

Frozen Ground ◽

Frozen Soils ◽

Physically Based ◽

Hydrological Cycles

Abstract. Frozen ground has an important role in regional hydrological cycles and ecosystems, especially on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, which is characterized by high elevation and a dry climate. This study modified a distributed physically based hydrological model and applied it to simulate the long-term (from 1971 to 2013) change of frozen ground and its effect on hydrology in the upper Heihe basin located in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The model was validated carefully against data obtained from multiple ground-based observations. Based on the model simulations, we analyzed the changes of frozen soils and their effects on the hydrology. The results showed that the permafrost area shrank by 9.5 % (approximately 600 km2), especially in areas with elevation between 3500 m and 3900 m. The maximum frozen depth of seasonally frozen ground decreased at a rate of approximately 5.2 cm/10 yr, and the active layer depth over the permafrost increased by about 3.5 cm/10 yr. Runoff increased significantly during cold seasons (November–March) due to the increase in liquid soil moisture caused by rising soil temperature. Areas where permafrost changed into seasonally frozen ground at high elevation showed especially large changes in runoff. Annual runoff increased due to increased precipitation, the base flow increased due to permafrost degradation, and the actual evapotranspiration increased significantly due to increased precipitation and soil warming. The groundwater storage showed an increasing trend, which indicated that the groundwater recharge was enhanced due to the degradation of permafrost in the study area.

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Remotely sensed mapping of inland lake area changes in the Tibetan Plateau

Journal of Lake Sciences ◽

10.18307/2011.0301 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 311-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

LI Junli ◽

◽

SHENG Yongwei ◽

LUO Jiancheng ◽

SHEN Zhanfeng

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Remotely Sensed ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Lake Area ◽

Inland Lake

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Change in Frozen Soils and its Effect on Regional Hydrology in the Upper Heihe Basin, the Northeast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

10.5194/tc-2016-289 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bing Gao ◽

Dawen Yang ◽

Yue Qin ◽

Yuhan Wang ◽

Hongyi Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

High Elevation ◽

Annual Runoff ◽

Base Flow ◽

Permafrost Degradation ◽

Frozen Ground ◽

Increasing Trend ◽

Physically Based

Abstract. Frozen ground has an important role in regional hydrological cycle and ecosystem, especially on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, which is characterized by high elevation and a dry climate. This study modified a distributed physically-based hydrological model and applied it to simulate the long-term (from 1961 to 2013) change of frozen ground and its effect on hydrology in the upper Heihe basin located at Northeast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The model was validated carefully against data obtained from multiple ground-based observations. The model results showed that the permafrost area shrank by 9.5 % (approximately 600 km2), especially in areas with elevation between 3500 m and 3900 m. The maximum frozen depth of seasonally frozen ground decreased at a rate of approximately 4.1 cm/10 yr, and the active layer depth over the permafrost increased by about 2.2 cm/10 yr. Runoff increased significantly during cold seasons (November–March) due to the increase in liquid soil moisture caused by rising soil temperature. Areas where permafrost changed into the seasonally frozen ground at high elevation showed especially large changes in runoff. Annual runoff increased due to increased precipitation, the base flow increased due to permafrost degradation, and the actual evapotranspiration increased significantly due to increased precipitation and soil warming. The groundwater storage showed an increasing trend, which indicated that the groundwater recharge was enhanced due to the degradation of permafrost in the study area.

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Linking deeply-sourced volatile emissions to plateau growth dynamics in southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24415-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Maoliang Zhang ◽

Zhengfu Guo ◽

Sheng Xu ◽

Peter H. Barry ◽

Yuji Sano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Growth Dynamics ◽

High Elevation ◽

Fault System ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Southeastern Tibetan Plateau ◽

Surface Uplift ◽

Multi Stage ◽

Geodynamic Processes ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

AbstractThe episodic growth of high-elevation orogenic plateaux is controlled by a series of geodynamic processes. However, determining the underlying mechanisms that drive plateau growth dynamics over geological history and constraining the depths at which growth originates, remains challenging. Here we present He-CO2-N2 systematics of hydrothermal fluids that reveal the existence of a lithospheric-scale fault system in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, whereby multi-stage plateau growth occurred in the geological past and continues to the present. He isotopes provide unambiguous evidence for the involvement of mantle-scale dynamics in lateral expansion and localized surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The excellent correlation between 3He/4He values and strain rates, along the strike of Indian indentation into Asia, suggests non-uniform distribution of stresses between the plateau boundary and interior, which modulate southeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau within the context of India-Asia convergence. Our results demonstrate that deeply-sourced volatile geochemistry can be used to constrain deep dynamic processes involved in orogenic plateau growth.

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Roof of the World: Tibet, Pamirs

Colliding Continents ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199653003.003.0016 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Mike Searle

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

High Elevation ◽

Tien Shan ◽

Palm Tree ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Wet Season ◽

North West ◽

Mountain Ranges ◽

The North ◽

The World

The Tibetan Plateau is by far the largest region of high elevation, averaging just above 5,000 metres above sea level, and the thickest crust, between 70 and 90 kilometres thick, anywhere in the world. This huge plateau region is very flat—lying in the internally drained parts of the Chang Tang in north and central Tibet, but in parts of the externally drained eastern Tibet, three or four mountain ranges larger and higher than the Alps rise above the frozen plateau. Some of the world’s largest and longest mountain ranges border the plateau, the ‘flaming mountains’ of the Tien Shan along the north-west, the Kun Lun along the north, the Longmen Shan in the east, and of course the mighty Himalaya forming the southern border of the plateau. The great trans-Himalayan mountain ranges of the Pamir and Karakoram are geologically part of the Asian plate and western Tibet but, as we have noted before, unlike Tibet, these ranges have incredibly high relief with 7- and 8-kilometre-high mountains and deeply eroded rivers and glacial valleys. The western part of the Tibetan Plateau is the highest, driest, and wildest area of Tibet. Here there is almost no rainfall and rivers that carry run-off from the bordering mountain ranges simply evaporate into saltpans or disappear underground. Rivers draining the Kun Lun flow north into the Takla Makan Desert, forming seasonal marshlands in the wet season and a dusty desert when the rivers run dry. The discovery of fossil tropical leaves, palm tree trunks, and even bones from miniature Miocene horses suggest that the climate may have been wetter in the past, but this is also dependent on the rise of the plateau. Exactly when Tibet rose to its present elevation is a matter of great debate. Nowadays the Indian Ocean monsoon winds sweep moisture-laden air over the Indian sub-continent during the summer months (late June–September). All the moisture is dumped as the summer monsoon, the torrential rains that sweep across India from south-east to north-west.

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Atmospheric processes of persistent organic pollutants over a remote lake of the central Tibetan Plateau: Implications for regional cycling

10.5194/acp-2016-989 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Jiao Ren ◽

Xiaoping Wang ◽

Chuanfei Wang ◽

Ping Gong ◽

Tandong Yao

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Organic Pollutants ◽

Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽

Secondary Source ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Lake Area ◽

Nam Co ◽

Surface Exchange ◽

Atmospheric Processes ◽

Water Gas

Abstract. Atmospheric processes (air-surface exchange, and atmospheric deposition and degradation) are crucial for understanding the global cycling and fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). However, such assessment over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) remains uncertain. More than 50 % of the Chinese lakes are located on the TP, which exerts a remarkable influence on the regional water, energy, and chemical cycling. In this study, air and water samples were simultaneously collected in Nam Co, a large lake on the TP, to test whether the lake is a "secondary source" or "sink" of POPs. Lower concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were observed in the atmosphere and lake water of Nam Co, while the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were relatively higher. Results of fugacity ratios and chiral signatures both suggest that the lake acted as the net sink of atmospheric hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), following their long-range transport driven by the Indian Monsoon. Different behaviors were observed in the PAHs, which primarily originated from local biomass burning. Acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, and fluorene showed volatilization from the lake to the atmosphere; while other PAHs were deposited into the lake due to the integrated deposition process (wet/dry and air-water gas deposition) and limited atmospheric degradation. As the dominant PAH compound, phenanthrene exhibited a seasonal reversal of air-water gas exchange, which was likely related to the melting of the lake ice in May. The annual input of HCHs from air to the entire lake area (2015 km2) was estimated as 1.9 kg year−1, while those estimated for PAHs can potentially reach up to 550 kg year−1. This study highlights the significance of PAH deposition on the regional carbon cycling in the oligotrophic lakes of the TP.

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