scholarly journals Dramatic loss of glacier accumulation area on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by ice core tritium and mercury records

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1213-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kang ◽  
F. Wang ◽  
U. Morgenstern ◽  
Y. Zhang ◽  
B. Grigholm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Runoff Water ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
High Elevations

Abstract. Two ice cores were retrieved from high elevations (~5800 m a.s.l.) at Mt. Nyainqêntanglha and Mt. Geladaindong in the southern and central Tibetan Plateau region. The combined tracer analysis of tritium (3H), 210Pb and mercury, along with other chemical records, provided multiple lines of evidence supporting that the two coring sites had not received net ice accumulation since at least the 1950s and 1980s, respectively. These results implied an annual ice loss rate of more than several hundred millimeter water equivalent over the past 30–60 years. Both mass balance modeling at the sites and in situ data from the nearby glaciers confirmed a continuously negative mass balance (or mass loss) in the region due to dramatic warming in recent decades. Along with a recent report on Naimona'nyi Glacier in the Himalayas, the findings suggest that the loss of accumulation area of glacier is a possibility from the southern to central Tibetan Plateau at high elevations, probably up to about 5800 m a.s.l. This mass loss raises concerns over the rapid rate of glacier ice loss and associated changes in surface glacier runoff, water availability, and sea levels.

scholarly journals Decapitation of high-altitude glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by ice core tritium and mercury records

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 417-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Kang ◽  
F. Y. Wang ◽  
U. Morgenstern ◽  
Y. L. Zhang ◽  
B. Grigholm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Runoff Water ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
In Situ Data ◽  
Ice Accumulation ◽  
Glacier Ice

Abstract. Two ice cores were retrieved from high elevations (~ 5800 m a.s.l.) at Mt. Nyainqentanglha and Mt. Geladaindong in the southern to inland Tibetan Plateau. The combined analysis of tritium (3H), 210Pb, mercury tracers, along with other chemical records, revealed that the two coring sites had not received net ice accumulation since at least the 1950s and 1980s, respectively, implying an annual ice loss rate of more than several hundred millimeter water equivalent over these periods. Both mass balance modeling at the sites and in situ data from nearby glaciers confirmed a continuously negative mass balance (or mass loss) in the region due to the dramatic warming in the last decades. Along with a recent report on Naimona'nyi Glacier in the Himalaya, the findings suggest that glacier decapitation (i.e., the loss of the accumulation zone) is a wide-spread phenomenon from the southern to inland Tibetan Plateau even at the summit regions. This raises concerns over the rapid rate of glacier ice loss and associated changes in surface glacier runoff, water availability, and sea levels.

scholarly journals Precipitation record since AD 1600 from ice cores on the central Tibetan Plateau

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yao ◽  
K. Duan ◽  
B. Xu ◽  
N. Wang ◽  
X. Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Precipitation Record ◽  
Ice Field ◽  
The 19Th Century

Abstract. Lack of reliable long-term precipitation record from the northern Tibetan Plateau has constrained our understanding of precipitation variations in this region. We drilled an ice core on the Puruogangri Ice Field in the central Tibetan Plateau in 2000 to reveal the precipitation variations. The well dated part of the core extends back to AD 1600, allowing us to construct a 400-year annual accumulation record. This record shows that the central Tibetan plateau experienced a drier period with an average annual precipitation of ~300 mm in the 19th century, compared to ~450 mm in the wetter periods during 1700–1780 and the 20th century. This pattern agrees with precipitation reconstructions from the Dunde and Guliya ice cores on the northern Plateau but differs from that found in the Dasuopu ice cores from the southern Plateau The north-south contrasts in precipitation reconstruction reveals difference in moisture origin between the south Tibetan Plateau dominated by the Asian monsoon and the north Tibetan Plateau dominated by the continental recycling and the westerlies.

scholarly journals Temperature variations over the past millennium on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by four ice cores

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 362-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tandong Yao ◽  
Keqin Duan ◽  
L.G. Thompson ◽  
Ninglian Wang ◽  
Lide Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau

AbstractTemperature variation on the Tibetan Plateau over the last 1000 years has been inferred using a composite δ18O record from four ice cores. Data from a new ice core recovered from the Puruogangri ice field in the central Tibetan Plateau are combined with those from three other cores (Dunde, Guliya and Dasuopu) recovered previously. The ice-core δ18O composite record indicates that the temperature change on the whole Tibetan Plateau is similar to that in the Northern Hemisphere on multi-decadal timescales except that there is no decreasing trend from AD 1000 to the late 19th century. The δ18O composite record from the northern Tibetan Plateau, however, indicates a cooling trend from AD 1000 to the late 19th century, which is more consistent with the Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction. The δ18O composite record reveals the existence of the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age (LIA) on the Tibetan Plateau. However, on the Tibetan Plateau the LIA is not the coldest period during the last millennium as in other regions in the Northern Hemisphere. The present study indicates that the 20th-century warming on the Tibetan Plateau is abrupt, and is warmer than at any time during the past 1000 years.

scholarly journals Holocene climate variability archived in the Puruogangri ice cap on the central Tibetan Plateau

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lonnie G. Thompson ◽  
Yao Tandong ◽  
Mary E. Davis ◽  
Ellen Mosley-Thompson ◽  
Tracy A. Mashiotta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Climate History ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Monsoon System ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Ice Core Records

AbstractTwo ice cores (118.4 and 214.7 m in length) were collected in 2000 from the Puruogangri ice cap in the center of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in a joint US-Chinese collaborative project. These cores yield paleoclimatic and environmental records extending through the Middle Holocene, and complement previous ice-core histories from the Dunde and Guliya ice caps in northeast and northwest Tibet, respectively, and Dasuopu glacier in the Himalaya. The high-resolution Puruogangri climate record since AD 1600 details regional temperature and moisture variability. The post-1920 period is characterized by above-average annual net balance, contemporaneous with the greatest 18O enrichment of the last 400 years, consistent with the isotopically inferred warming observed in other TP ice-core records. On longer timescales the aerosol history reveals large and abrupt events, one of which is dated ∼4.7 kyr BP and occurs close to the time of a drought that extended throughout the tropics and may have been associated with centuries-long weakening of the Asian/Indian/African monsoon system. The Puruogangri climate history, combined with the other TP ice-core records, has the potential to provide valuable information on variations in the strength of the monsoon across the TP during the Holocene.

scholarly journals A 70-yr record of oxygen-18 variability in an ice core from the Tanggula Mountains, central Tibetan Plateau

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Joswiak ◽  
T. Yao ◽  
G. Wu ◽  
B. Xu ◽  
W. Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Monsoon Rainfall ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
Rainfall Amount ◽  
North India ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau

Abstract. A 33 m ice core was retrieved from the Tanggula Mts, central Tibetan Plateau at 5743 m a.s.l. in August 2005. Annual average δ18O values were determined for the upper 17 m depth (14.6 m w.eq.), representing the time series since the mid-1930s. Data are compared to previous results of an ice core from Mt. Geladaindong, 100 km to the northwest, for the period 1935–2003. During the time 1935–1960, δ18O values differed by 2–3‰ between the two ice cores, with generally lower ratios preserved in the Tanggula 2005 core. Differences in interannual variability and overall average ratios between the two study locations highlight the spatially variable climate controls on ice core isotope ratios within the boundary of monsoon- and westerly-impacted regions of the central Tibetan Plateau. Average annual net accumulation was 261 mm w.eq. for the period 1935–2004. The overall average δ18O value was −13.2‰ and exhibited a statistically significant increase from the 1935–1969 average (−13.7‰) to the 1970–2004 average (−12.6‰). Despite the observed increase in isotope ratios, isotopic temperature dependence was not evident, based on comparison with long-term data from meteorological stations to the north and southwest of the study location. Lack of correlation between average δ18O values and temperature is likely due to monsoon influence, which results in relatively greater isotopic depletion of moisture during the warm season. Evidence of monsoon impacts on precipitation in the central Tibetan Plateau has been previously documented, and statistically significant negative correlation (r=−0.37, p<0.01) between the annual average ice core δ18O values and North India monsoon rainfall was observed for the period 1935–2004. Although the δ18O data agree well with the monsoon rainfall amount, no significant correlation was observed between the core accumulation and the monsoon rainfall amount. Previous model and observational results suggest monsoon impact on δ18O in precipitation may extend beyond the immediate extent of heavy monsoon rainfall, reaching the central Tibetan Plateau. These results provide evidence that the δ18O variability at this study location may be sensitive to southern monsoon intensity.

scholarly journals Ice core precipitation record in central Tibetan plateau since AD 1600

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yao ◽  
K. Duan ◽  
B. Xu ◽  
N. Wang ◽  
X. Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Precipitation Record ◽  
High Precipitation

Abstract. Lack of reliable long-term precipitation record from northern Tibetan Plateau has constrained the understanding of precipitation variation in this region. An ice core drilled from the Puruogangri Ice Field on central Tibetan Plateau in the year 2000 helped reveal the precipitation variations since AD 1600. Analysis of the annual accumulation data presented precipitation changes from AD 1600, indicative of wet and dry periods in the past 400 year in the central Tibetan Plateau. Accordingly, the 18th and 20th centuries experienced high precipitation period, whilst the 19th century experienced low precipitation period. Such a feature was consistent with precipitation recorded in ice cores from Dunde and Guliya Glaciers, northern Tibetan Plateau. Besides, the results also pointed to consistency in precipitation-temperature correlation on the northern Tibetan Plateau, in a way that temperature and precipitation were positively correlated. But this feature was contrary to the relationship revealed from Dasuopu ice cores, southern Tibetan Plateau, where temperature and precipitation were negatively correlated. The north-south contrast in precipitation amount and its relationship with temperature may shed light on the reconstruction of Asian monsoon since AD 1600.

scholarly journals Mass balance of Xiao Dongkemadi glacier on the central Tibetan Plateau from 1989 to 1995

2000 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 159-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Fujita ◽  
Yutaka Ageta ◽  
Pu Jianchen ◽  
Yao Tandong
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Black Body ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Geostationary Meteorological Satellite ◽  
Continuous Mass

AbstractData on the mass balance of Xiao Dongkemadi glacier in the Tanggula mountains, central Tibetan Plateau, were obtained over 5 5 years from 1989 to 1995. These are the first continuous mass-balance data for a continental-type glacier on the Tibetan Plateau, where the glacier accumulates during the summer monsoon (summer-accumulation-type glacier). Mass-balance vs altitude profiles were steeper in the negative than in the positive mass-balance years. This is considered to have resulted from the effect of summer accumulation. The annual mass balance is compared with air temperature, precipitation, and black-body temperature in the area including the glacier, which is calculated from infrared radiation observations by theJapanese Geostationary Meteorological Satellite. It was found that the interannual variation in the glacier mass balance was not closely related to maximum monthly mean air temperature, while it did have a relatively good correlation with maximum monthly mean black-body temperature.

scholarly journals A 70-yr record of oxygen-18 variability in accumulation from the Tanggula Mountains, central Tibetan Plateau

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1929-1949
Author(s):  
D. R. Joswiak ◽  
T. Yao ◽  
G. Wu ◽  
B. Xu ◽  
W. Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Temperature Dependence ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
The North ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau

Abstract. A 33 m ice core was retrieved from the Tanggula Mtns, central Tibetan Plateau at 5743 m a.s.l. in August 2005. Annual average δ18O ratios were determined for the upper 17 m depth, representing the time series since the mid-1930's based on multi-parameter dating techniques. Data are compared to previous results (Kang et al., 2007) of an ice core from Mt. Geladaindong, 100 km to the northwest, for the period 1935–2003. During the time 1935–1960, δ18O ratios differed by 2–3‰ between the two ice cores, with generally lower ratios preserved in the Tanggula 2005 core. Differences in interannual variability and overall average ratios between the two study locations highlight the spatially variable climatic signals of ice core isotope ratios within the boundary of monsoon- and westerly-impacted regions of the central Tibetan Plateau. Average annual net accumulation was 261 mm w.eq. yr−1 for the period 1935–2004. Overall average δ18O ratio was −13.2‰ and exhibited a statistically significant increase from the 1935–1969 average (−413.7‰) to the 1970–2004 average (−12.6‰). Despite the observed increase in isotope ratios, temperature dependence was not found based on comparison with long-term data from meteorological stations to the north and southwest of the study location. Lack of temperature dependence is likely due monsoon influence, which results in relatively more depleted moisture arriving during the warm season. Evidence of monsoon impacts on precipitation in the central Tibetan Plateau has been previously documented, and statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.37, p<0.01) between the annual average ice core δ18O ratio and N. India monsoon rainfall was observed for the period 1935–2004.

scholarly journals 1000 years of climatic change in China: ice-core δ18O evidence

1995 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. N. Lin ◽  
L.G. Thompson ◽  
M.E. Davis ◽  
E. Mosley-Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Western China ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Recent Warming ◽  
Reconstructed Temperature

Since 1987, ice cores have been drilled from the Dunde and Guliya ice caps on the Tibetan Plateau, western China. Here, the oxygen isotopic (δ18O) records for the last 1000 years from both these cores are compiled and compared. Using surface temperature observations since the mid-1960s from meteorological stations on the plateau and δ18O measured on precipitation collected contemporaneously, the empirical relationship: δ18O = 0.6 T s – 12 is established. δ18O appears to serve as a reasonable proxy for regional surface temperatures and a reasonable basis for reconstructing 1000a proxy temperature records from Dunde and Guliya. The reconstructed temperature histories for Dunde (on the eastern Tibetan Plateau) and Guliya (on the western Tibetan Plateau) show some centennial-scale similarities, but reveal quite different histories for higher-frequency variability over the last millennium. The ice-core δ18O histories from Dunde and Guliya are compared with a tree-ring index from western China and the dust-fall record from eastern China, but show no consistent relationship. The most prominent similarity between the reconstructed temperature histories for Dunde and Guliya is the marked warming of the last few decades. From the 1000a perspective provided be these ice-core records, the recent warming on Dunde is unique in its strength and persistence; however, the warming on Guliya (inferred from 18O enrichment) is more recent (since 1985) and not unprecedented. This recent warming over the Tibetan Plateau is evident in the limited meteorological records.

scholarly journals Ice-core evidence of westerly and monsoon moisture contributions in the central Tibetan Plateau

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (213) ◽  
pp. 56-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Joswiak ◽  
Tandong Yao ◽  
Guangjian Wu ◽  
Lide Tian ◽  
Baiqing Xu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Climate Indices ◽  
Dipole Mode ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau

AbstractStable isotopes are a primary tool for inferring past temperature changes and atmospheric moisture variability from ice cores. A 33 m ice core representing the period 1850–2004 was retrieved from the Tanggula Mountains, central Tibetan Plateau (5743 m a.s.l.), in August 2005. Annual average stable isotope (δ18O, δD) values generally increase during the period, while the second-order parameter of deuterium excess (d-excess) generally decreases. High annual average d-excess values (18.2‰) throughout the ice core suggest a significant contribution of continental recycled moisture. d-excess values shift from relatively higher values during 1850–1940 to lower values since the 1940s. Annual isotope values and reconstructed accumulation are compared with climate indices, local station temperature records and northern India monsoon precipitation. Significant correlation is observed between δ18O and the Southern Oscillation, NINO3.4 and Dipole Mode indices. Annual average d-excess values revealed a significant negative correlation with the Dipole Mode index. Results suggest a relatively greater contribution of westerly-dominated continental moisture prior to the 1940s and an increase in the contribution of moisture evaporated under more humid conditions since the 1940s.

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