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Changes in glacier extent and surface elevations in the Depuchangdake region of northwestern Tibet, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Zhiguo Li ,
Lide Tian ,
Hongbo Wu ,
Weicai Wang ,
Shuhong Zhang ,
Jingjing Zhang  and
Xuexin Li
Zhiguo Li*
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Planning, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Lide Tian
Affiliation:
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Hongbo Wu
Affiliation:
School of History and Tourism, Shaanxi University of Technology, Shaanxi Hanzhong 723000, China
Weicai Wang
Affiliation:
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Shuhong Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Life Science, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
Jingjing Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Planning, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
Xuexin Li
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Planning, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
*
⁎Corresponding author at: Department of Environment and Planning, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China. E-mail address:[email protected] (Z. Li).
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Abstract

Remote sensing data, including those from Landsat Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (TM/ETM +), the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model (SRTM4.1 DEM), and the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (Glas/ICESat), show that from 1991 to 2013 the glacier area in the Depuchangdake region of northwestern Tibet decreased from 409 to 393 km2, an overall loss of 16 km2, or 3.9% of the entire 1991 glacial area. The mean glacier-thinning rate was − 0.40 ± 0.16 m equivalent height of water per year (w.e./yr), equating to a glacier mass balance of − 0.16 ± 0.07 km3 w.e./yr. Total mass loss from 2003 to 2009 was − 1.13 ± 0.46 km3. Glacier retreat likely reflects increases in annual total radiation, annual positive degree days, and maximum temperature, with concurrent increases in precipitation insufficient to replenish glacial mass loss. The rate of glacier retreat in Depuchangdake is less than that for Himalayan glaciers in Indian monsoon-dominated areas, but greater than that for Karakoram glaciers in mid-latitude westerly-dominated areas. Glacier type, climate zone, and climate change all impact on the differing degrees of long-term regional glacial change rate; however, special glacier distribution forms can sometimes lead to exceptional circumstances.

Keywords

Glacier variationsRemote sensingTransition zoneDepuchangdake region
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 25 - 33
Copyright
University of Washington

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