Response of Glacier and Lake Dynamics in Four Inland Basins to Climate Change at the Transition Zone between the Karakorum And Himalayas
December
Response of Glacier and Lake Dynamics in Four Inland Basins to Climate Change at the Transition Zone between the Karakorum And Himalayas
Zhiguo Li 0 1
Kuangsheng Fan 0 1
Lide Tian 0 1
Benlin Shi 0 1
Shuhong Zhang 0 1
Jingjing Zhang 0 1
0 1 College of Environment and Planning, Shangqiu Normal University , Shangqiu , China , 2 Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing , China , 3 College of Life Science, Shangqiu Normal University , Shangqiu , China
1 Editor: Liping Zhu, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research , CHINA
Inland glacier and lake dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its surroundings over recent decades are good indicators of climate change and have a significant impact on the local water supply and ecosystem. The glacier and lake changes in Karakoram are quite different from those of the Himalayas. The mechanisms of the complex and regionally heterogeneous behavior of the glacier and lake changes between the Karakorum and Himalayas are poorly understood. Based on satellite images and meteorological data of Shiquanhe, Hetian, and Yutian stations, we demonstrate that the overall retreat of glaciers and increase of lake area at the transition zone between the Karakoram and Himalayas (TKH) have occurred since 1968 in response to a significant global climate change. Glacial areas in the Songmuxi Co basin, Zepu Co basin, Mang Co basin and Unnamed Co decreased by -1.98 ± 0.02 km2, -5.39 ± 0.02 km2, -0.01 ± 0.02 km2, and -0.12 ± 0.02 km2 during the study period, corresponding to losses of -1.42%, -2.86%, -1.54%, and -1.57%, respectively. The lake area of the Songmuxi Co, Zepu Co, Mang Co and Unnamed Co increased by 7.57 ± 0.02 km2, 8.53 ± 0.02 km2, 1.35 ± 0.02 km2, and 0.53±0.02 km2, corresponding to growths of 30.22%, 7.55%, 11.39%, and 8.05%, respectively. Increases in temperature was the main reason for glacier retreat, whereas decreases in potential evapotranspiration of lakes, increases in precipitation, and increases in melt water from glaciers and frozen soil all contributed to lake area expansion.
-
Data Availability Statement: This study utilized a
total of 20 topographic maps which were acquired in
1968 and derived from aerial photographs taken by
the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. The US
Geological Survey (USGS; http://glovis.usgs.gov) and
the Global Land Cover Facility provided the Landsat
images. The meteorological data were downloaded
from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service
System (http://cdc.cma.gov.cn). All maps were
obtained from the National Geomatics Center of
China under a confidentiality agreement.
Researchers interested in accessing the maps should
Introduction
The TP and its surroundings contain the largest number of glaciers outside of polar regions
and is often called the world’s "Third Pole" [
1
]. Glacier and lake changes on the TP can change
atmospheric circulation patterns and affect agriculture, power generation, and the water
apply to the National Geomatics Center of China, 28
Lianhua Road, Haidian District, Beijing. The lake area
data for 1991, 2001, and 2013 are within the
Supporting Information files.
Funding: This work was supported by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
41101072, No. 41025002 and No. 31100369).
supplies of 1.5 billion people across ten countries [
2–4
]. Expanding inland lake areas have a
substantial impact on local ecosystems and pastures [5]. The changes of the TP glaciers and
lakes exhibit regionally heterogeneous behavior [
1, 6
]. The glaciers in the eastern, central and
western Himalayas in the southern part of the TP all showed retreating trends [
7–9
], whereas
the Karakoram glaciers in the northern part of the TP are considered to be in a stable or
advancing state [
1, 10, 11
]. The glacial lakes in the eastern, central and western Himalayas in
the southern part of the TP all showed expansion trends [
8, 9, 12–16
], whereas the larger lakes
showed shrinking trends [
9, 13, 17–20
]; meanwhile, the Karakoram glacial lakes in the
northern part of the TP are reported to shrinking trend [
14
] while larger lakes are considered to be
in a stable state [
21
]. The Songmuxi Co, Zepu Co, Mang Co and Unnamed Co are located in
TKH and are covered by different glacier percentages. In the four basins, it is unclear whether
glaciers advanced, retreated, or remained unchanged or whether the corresponding lakes
shrank, expanded, or remained stable. Thus, the status of glaciers and lakes, as well as the
relationship between glacier and lake changes remain unclear because of insufficient research.
Considering the scarcity of systematic observations of the study area, remote sensing images
based on multiple datasets and GIS technology were applied to reveal the process of glacier and
lake changes in TKH, and the interactions between glaciers and lakes. The results of this study
may help further the understanding of the spatial pattern and mechanism (...truncated)