scholarly journals Contribution of ground ice melting to the expansion of Serling Co lake on the Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingxiao Wang ◽  
Lin Zhao ◽  
Huayun Zhou ◽  
Shibo Liu ◽  
Erji Du ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Surface Deformation ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Melting ◽  
Ground Ice ◽  
Lake Volume ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Sbas Insar

Abstract. Serling Co lake, surrounded by permafrost and glacier-occupied regions, has exhibited the greatest increase in water storage over the last 50 years among all the lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. However, increases in precipitation and glacial melting are not enough to explain the increased water volume of lake expansion. The magnitude of the contribution of thawing permafrost to this increase under climate warming remains unknown. This study made the first attempt to quantify the water contribution of ground ice melting to the expansion of Serling Co lake by evaluating the ground surface deformation. We monitored the spatial distribution of surface deformation in the Serling Co basin using the SBAS-InSAR technique and compared it with the findings of field surveys. Then, the ground ice meltwater volume in the watershed was calculated based on the long-term deformation rate. Finally, this volume was compared with the lake volume change during the same period, and the contribution ratio was derived. SBAS-InSAR monitoring during 2017–2020 illustrated widespread and large subsidence in the upstream section of the Zhajiazangbu subbasin, where widespread continuous permafrost is present. The terrain subsidence was normally between 5 and 20 mm/a, indicating rapid ground ice loss in the region. The ground ice meltwater reached 56.0 × 106 m3/a, and the rate of increase in lake water storage was 496.3 × 106 m3/a during the same period, with ground ice meltwater contributing 11.3 % of the lake volume increase. This study is especially helpful in explaining the rapid expansion of Serling Co lake and equilibrating the water balance at the watershed scale. More importantly, the proposed method can be easily extended to other watersheds underlain by permafrost and to help understand the hydrologic changes in these watersheds.

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

Water ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Comparison of Hydrological Patterns between Glacier-Fed and Non-Glacier-Fed Lakes on the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 4024
Author(s):  
Fangdi Sun ◽  
Bin He ◽  
Caixia Liu ◽  
Yuchao Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Altimeter Data ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Volume Increase ◽  
Southeastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lake Volume ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Precipitation Variation

Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau have experienced variations over the last several decades, and the delineation of lake dynamics is favorable for the regional water cycle and can serve as important information for plateau environmental research. This study focused on 57 lakes near the Tanggula Mountains on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Yearly inundations of the lakes in 1989–2019 and altimeter data available for 2003–2020 were integrated to illustrate the changing patterns of glacier-fed and non-glacier-fed lakes. These two groups of lakes presented very similar evolution stages. They both increased in 1989–1992, decreased in 1992–1996, increased rapidly in 1998–2005, and had batch-wise fluctuations since 2005, with respective areas of around 5305.28 and 1636.79 km2 in the last decade. The non-glacier-fed lakes were more sensitive to precipitation variation, and glacier-fed lakes were more sensitive to temperature changes. Based on lakes with obvious changes in water level, the whole water storage variations of the studied lakes were 1.90 Gt/y in 2003–2009, including 1.80 Gt/y for glacier-fed lakes and 0.10 Gt/y for non-glacier-fed lakes. The contribution from glacier melting in 2003–2009 amounted to 16.11% of the whole lake volume increase. In 2010–2020, water mass changes were 0.42 Gt/y for glacier-fed lakes and –0.14 Gt/y for non-glacier-fed lakes, respectively. The volume increase of glacier-fed lakes in 2010–2020 was mainly due to the expansion of Selin Co. Selin Co experienced a water increase of about 0.46 Gt/y, and the other glacier-fed lakes experienced a decreasing volume of –0.04 Gt/y. In 2010–2020, 99.43% of the glacier contribution supplied Selin Co.

scholarly journals Sequence Analysis of Several Ancient River Blocking Events in the Suwalong Reach of the Upper Jinsha River Based on Multidisciplinary Approaches, SE Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiwei Zhang ◽  
Jianping Chen ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Chun Tan ◽  
Yongchao Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Jinsha River ◽  
Steep Terrain ◽  
Sbas Insar ◽  
Blocking Event

Abstract The temporary or permanent river blocking event caused by mass movement usually occurs on steep terrain. With the increase of mountain population and land use pressure and the construction of water conservancy and hydropower projects, river blocking event has gradually attracted people’s attention and understanding. The study area (Wangdalong-Gangda reach) is located in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River and the southeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Affected by strong tectonic activity in the Jinsha River suture zone and the rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, in the past 6000 years, there have been at least five obvious river blocking events in the reach of about 30 km in the study area. The number and density are very rare. Combined with the field investigation, indoor interpretation, laboratory tests, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, SBAS-InSAR and previous studies, multidisciplinary approaches are used to systematically summarize the analysis methods and further the understanding of one river blocking event and multiple river blocking events from difference perspectives. Especially in multiple river blocking events, we could get the wrong results, even the opposite conclusion if interaction is not considered. Through this study, the general method of analyzing the river blocking event and the problems that should be paid attention to in sampling are given, and relatively reliable historical results of river blocking events are obtained. This method has extensive applicability to the identification and analysis of river blocking events in other areas.

scholarly journals Progress and Challenges in Studying Regional Permafrost in the Tibetan Plateau Using Satellite Remote Sensing and Models

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiru Jiang ◽  
Guanheng Zheng ◽  
Yonghong Yi ◽  
Deliang Chen ◽  
Wenjiang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Surface Deformation ◽  
Microwave Remote Sensing ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Freeze Thaw ◽  
Plateau Area

Recent climate change has induced widespread soil thawing and permafrost degradation in the Tibetan Plateau. Significant advances have been made in better characterizing Tibetan Plateau soil freeze/thaw dynamics, and their interaction with local-scale ecohydrological processes. However, factors such as sparse networks of in-situ sites and short observational period still limit our understanding of the Tibetan Plateau permafrost. Satellite-based optical and infrared remote sensing can provide information on land surface conditions at high spatial resolution, allowing for better representation of spatial heterogeneity in the Tibetan Plateau and further infer the related permafrost states. Being able to operate at “all-weather” conditions, microwave remote sensing has been widely used to retrieve surface soil moisture, freeze/thaw state, and surface deformation, that are critical to understand the Tibetan Plateau permafrost state and changes. However, coarse resolution (>10 km) of current passive microwave sensors can add large uncertainties to the above retrievals in the Tibetan Plateau area with high topographic relief. In addition, current microwave remote sensing methods are limited to detections in the upper soil layer within a few centimetres. On the other hand, algorithms that can link surface properties and soil freeze/thaw indices to permafrost properties at regional scale still need improvements. For example, most methods using InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) derived surface deformation to estimate active layer thickness either ignore the effects of vertical variability of soil water content and soil properties, or use site-specific soil moisture profiles. This can introduce non-negligible errors when upscaled to the broader Tibetan Plateau area. Integrating satellite remote sensing retrievals with process models will allow for more accurate representation of Tibetan Plateau permafrost conditions. However, such applications are still limiting due to a number of factors, including large uncertainties in current satellite products in the Tibetan Plateau area, and mismatch between model input data needs and information provided by current satellite sensors. Novel approaches to combine diverse datasets with models through model initialization, parameterization and data assimilation are needed to address the above challenges. Finally, we call for expansion of local-scale observational network, to obtain more information on deep soil temperature and moisture, soil organic carbon content, and ground ice content.

Tectonic Deformation and Surface Processes of the Tibetan Plateau Constrained by Time Series Analysis of Sentinel-1 InSAR Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Zinke ◽  
Gilles Peltzer ◽  
Eric Fielding ◽  
Simran Sangha ◽  
David Bekaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Surface Deformation ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Surface Processes ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Temporal Sampling

<p>We quantify deformation patterns resulting from tectonic motions and surface processes across the central Tibetan Plateau (29–45ºN, 83–92ºE) since late 2014 using ascending and descending passes of the Sentinel-1A and -1B radar satellites. The broad spatial extent of these data (> 10<sup>6</sup> km<sup>2</sup>), fine spatial resolution (originally 90 m pixels, resampled to 270 m pixels), and high rate of temporal sampling (12–24-day orbit repeat time) offer unprecedented resolution of surface deformation in space and time. To process such an extensive data set – including more than 100 dates and 300 interferograms per track thus far – we leverage the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) standardized interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) products and toolbox. We construct time series of surface deformation constrained from our Sentinel-1 interferograms using the small baseline subset approach implemented by the Miami InSAR time series software in Python (MintPy). Our preliminary results from three Sentinel-1 orbits (two descending and one ascending; each comprising 10 frames along track) allow us to quantify deformation in the satellite lines of sight. Combinations of ascending and descending track measurements are used to approximate east-west and vertical ground velocities. The resulting velocity fields will provide a more complete and accurate picture of interseismic strain accumulation rates across active faults in the region such as the Altyn Tagh and Kunlun faults, and allow us to study surface processes such as permafrost active layer dynamics and isostatic adjustment due to lake level changes in unparalleled scope and detail.</p>

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