Response of Glacier and Lake Dynamics in Four Inland Basins to Climate Change at the Transition Zone between the Karakorum And Himalayas

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

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.

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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)


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Zhiguo Li, Kuangsheng Fan, Lide Tian, Benlin Shi, Shuhong Zhang, Jingjing Zhang. Response of Glacier and Lake Dynamics in Four Inland Basins to Climate Change at the Transition Zone between the Karakorum And Himalayas, PLOS ONE, 2015, Volume 10, Issue 12, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144696