Changes of the hydrological cycle in two typical Chinese monsoonal temperate glacier basins: A response to global warming?

doi:10.1007/s11442-012-0962-x

Abstract

Abstract:

Studying the response to warming of hydrological systems in China’s temperate glacier region is essential in order to provide information required for sustainable development. The results indicated the warming climate has had an impact on the hydrological cycle. As the glacier area subject to melting has increased and the ablation season has become longer, the contribution of meltwater to annual river discharge has increased. The earlier onset of ablation at higher elevation glaciers has resulted in the period of minimum discharge occurring earlier in the year. Seasonal runoff variations are dominated by snow and glacier melt, and an increase of meltwater has resulted in changes of the annual water cycle in the Lijiang Basin and Hailuogou Basin. The increase amplitude of runoff in the downstream region of the glacial area is much stronger than that of precipitation, resulting from the prominent increase of meltwater from glacier region in two basins. Continued observations in the glacierized basins should be undertaken in order to monitor changes, to reveal the relationships between climate, glaciers, hydrology and water supplies, and to assist in maintaining sustainable regional development.

Key words: global warming, hydrological cycle, temperate glacier basins

PANG Hongxi, LI Zongxing, Wilfred H. THEAKSTONE. Changes of the hydrological cycle in two typical Chinese monsoonal temperate glacier basins: A response to global warming?[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2012, 22(5): 771-780.

References

Bultot F D, Coppens A, Dupriez G L et al., 1988. Repercussions of a CO₂ doubling on the water cycle and the water balance: A case study for Belgium. Journal of Hydrology, 99: 319-347.
Chiew F H S, McMahon T A, 1994. Application of daily rainfall-runoff model MODHYDROLOG to 28 Australian catchments. Journal of Hydrology, 153: 386-416.
China Meteorological Administration (CMA), 2006. Climate and Environment in China. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Dyurgerov M, 2003. Mountain and subpolar glaciers show an increase in sensitivity to climate warming and intensification of the water cycle. Journal of Hydrology, 282: 164-176.
He Yuanqing, Gu Juan, Zhang Dian, 2003a. What is the major reason for glacier retreat on Yulong mountain, China? Journal of Glaciology, 49(165): 325-326.
He Yuanqing, Zhang Zhonglin, Theakstone W H et al., 2003b. Changing features of climate and glaciers in China’s monsoonal temperate glacier region. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(D17): 4530-4536.
He Yuanqing, Zhang Zhonglin, Theakstone W H et al., 2003c. Changing features of climate and glaciers in China’s monsoonal temperate glacier region. Acta Geographica Sinica, 58(4): 550-558. (in Chinese)
He Yuanqing, Zhang Dian, 2004. Climatic warming is the major reason for glacier retreat on Mt. Yulong, China. Journal of Glaciololgy and Geocryology, 26(2), 230-231. (in Chinese)
Heim A, 1936. The glaciation and solifluction of Minya Gongka. Geographical Journal, 87(5): 444-454.
Higuchi K, Ohata Y, 1996. Specific features of snow and ice regime under the conditions of Central Asia. In: Kotlyakov V M (ed.) Variations of Snow and Ice in the Past and Present on a Global and Regional Scale. Paris: UNESCO, 45-51.
IPCC Report, 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Report of Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johannesson T, Raymond C F, Waddington E D, 1989. Time-scale for adjustment of glaciers to changes in mass balance. Journal of Glaciology, 35(121): 355-369.
Li Jijun, Feng Zhaodong, 1984. The Quaternary glaciation in Mt. Hengduan. Journal of Lanzhou University, 61-73. (in Chinese)
Li Jijun, Su Zheng, 1996. Glaciers in Hengduanshan Range. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Li Jijun, Su Zheng, Yang Xijin, 1986. Glaciers in Tibet. Beijing: Science Press, 277-297. (in Chinese)
Li Zongxing, He Yuanqing, An Wenlin et al., 2011. Climate and glacier change in southwestern China during the past several decades. Environmental Research Letters, 6 (2011) 045404, doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045404.
Li Zongxing, He Yuanqing, Pu Tao et al., 2010a. Changes of climate, glaciers and runoff in China’s monsoonal temperate glacier region during the last several decades. Quaternary International, 218(2010): 13-28.
Li Zongxing, He Yuanqing, Yang Xiaomei et al., 2010b. Changes of the Hailuogou Glacier, Mt. Gongga, China, against the background of climate change since the Holocene. Quaternary International, 218(2010): 166-175.
Li Zongxing, He Yuanqing, Wang Puyu et al., 2012. Changes of daily climate extremes in southwestern China during 1961-2008. Global and Planetary Change, 80-81: 255-272, doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.06.008.
Liu Shiyin, Zhang Yong, Xie Zichu et al., 2008. Mass and energy balance of glaciers. In: Shi Yafeng (ed.). Glaciers and Related Environments in China. Beijing: Science Press, 131-171.
McClung D M, Armstrong R L, 1993. Temperate glacier time response from field data. Journal of Glaciology, 39(132): 323-326.
Oerlemans J, Fortuin J P F, 1992. Sensitivity of glaciers and small ice caps to greenhouse warming. Science, 258: 115-117.
Owen L A, Finkel R C, Barnard P L, 2005. Climatic and topographic controls on the style and timing of late Quaternary glaciation throughout Tibet and the Himalaya defined by ¹⁰Be cosmogenic radionuclide surface exposure dating. Quaternary Science Review, 24: 1391-1411.
Pang Hongxi, He Yuanqing, Zhang Ningning, 2007. Accelerating glacier retreat on Yulong mountain, Tibetan Plateau, since the late 1990s. Journal of Glaciology, 53(181): 317-319.
Pu Jianchen, 1994. Glacier Inventory of China (The Changjiang River Drainage Basin). Lanzhou: Gansu Culture Press, 117-129. (in Chinese)
Ren Bing, 1988. Recent fluctuations of glaciers in China. In: Shi Y et al. (eds.). An Introduction to the Glaciers in China. Beijing: Science Press, 171-186. (in Chinese)
Salinger M J, 2005. Climate variability and change: past, present and future: An overview. Climate Change, 70: 9-29.
Serreze M C, 2000. Observational evidence of recent change in the northern high-latitude environment. Climate Change, 46: 159-207.
Shen D, Liu C, 1998. Hydrological and water resources responses to climatic change: A review. Geographical Research, 17(4): 435-443. (in Chinese)
Shi Yafeng, 2001. Estimation of the water resources affected by climatic warming and glacier shrinkage before 2050 in west China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 23(4): 333-341. (in Chinese)
Shi Yafeng, Huang Maohuan, Yao Tandong et al., 2000. Glaciers and their Environments in China: The Present, Past and Future. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Shi Yafeng, Huang Maohuan, Yao Tandong et al., 2008. Impact of global warming on glaciers and related water resources in China. In: Shi Yafeng (ed.). Glaciers and Related Environments in China. Beijing: Science Press, 507-528.
Su Zhen, Liu Shiyin, Wang Ninglian, 2001. Glacier changes on the Hengduan Mountains and their response to climatic response. In: The Environment and Ecosystem in the Eastern Edge of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Chengdu: Sichuan University Press, 102-109.
Su Zhen, Shi Yafeng, 2002. Response of the Chinese monsoonal temperate glaciers to global warming since the Little Ice Age. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 22(3): 223-228. (in Chinese)
Yang Zizheng, Xie Yinqi, Yang Shaowu, 1994. The application of E/E₀ in division of dry-wet region and dry-wet climate on Yunnan province. Journal of Yunnan University (Natural Science), 16(Suppl.): 91-98. (in Chinese)
Yao Tandong, Liu Shiyin, Pu Jianchen et al., 2004. Recent glacial retreat in High Asia and its impact on water resources in Northwest China. Science in China (Series D): 47(12): 1065-1072.
Zeng Qunzhu, Deng Yangxin, Wang Yong et al., 2008. Snow and ice hazards and their control measures. In: Shi Yafeng (ed.). Glaciers and Related Environments in China. Beijing: Science Press 317-385.
Zhang Wenjing, Li Tiesheng, Li Wei, 2001. Response of the Hailuogou modern glacier to climate change. In: The Environment and Ecosystem in the Eastern Edge of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Chengdu: Sichuan University Press, 102-109. (in Chinese)
Zheng Benxing, 1990. Glaciers, environment and climate since the LGM in the Chinese western glacial region. Quaternary Science, 2: 102-110. (in Chinese)
Zheng Benxing, 2001. Study on the Quaternary glaciation and the formation of Moxi platform in the east slopes of Mt. Gongga. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 22(6): 102-110. (in Chinese)
Zheng Benxing, Ma Qiuhua, 1994. The glaciers variation, climate change and the river valley development in the Holocene on the Gongga Mountain. Acta Geographica Sinica, 46(1): 500-508. (in Chinese)

[1]	Jie ZHANG, Fubao SUN, Wenbin LIU, Jiahong LIU, Hong WANG. Spatio-temporal patterns of drought evolution over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(6): 863-876.
[2]	Qinqin DU, Mingjun ZHANG, Shengjie WANG, Cunwei CHE, Rong MA, Zhuanzhuan MA. Changes in air temperature over China in response to the recent global warming hiatus [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(4): 496-516.
[3]	ZHANG Wenxia,,FENG Qingrong,WANG Tianguang,WANG Tianqiang. The spatiotemporal responses of Populus euphratica to global warming in Chinese oases between 1960 and 2015 [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2018, 28(5): 579-594.
[4]	Mingjun ZHANG,Lei DONG,Shengjie WANG,Aifang ZHAO,Fang QIANG,Meiping SUN,Qiong WANG. Increasing free-air 0℃ isotherm height in Southwest China from 1960 to 2010 [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2014, 24(5): 833-844.
[5]	LAN Yongchao, ZHAO Guohui, ZHANG Yaonan, WEN Jun, HU Xinglin, LIU Jinqi, GU Minglin, CHANG Junjie, MA Jianhua. Response of runoff in the headwater region of the Yellow River to climate change and its sensitivity analysis [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2010, 20(6): 848-860.
[6]	ZHANG Zhiqiang, QU Jiansheng, ZENG Jingjing. A quantitative comparison and analysis on the assessment indicators of greenhouse gases emission [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2008, 18(4): 387-399.
[7]	JIANG Fengqing, HU Ruji, LI Zhen. Variations and trends of the freezing and thaw- ing index along the Qinghai-Xizang Railway for 1966?2004 [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2008, 18(1): 3-16.
[8]	LI Baolin, ZHANG Yichi, ZHOU Chenghu. Remote sensing detection of glacier changes in Tianshan Mountains for the past 40 years [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2004, 14(3): 296-302.
[9]	GONG Dao-yi, ZHU Jin-hong, WANG Shao-wu. Flooding 1990s along the Yangtze River, has it concern of global warming? [J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2001, 11(1): 43-52.