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Changes in the glacier extent and surface elevation along the Ningchan and Shuiguan river source, eastern Qilian Mountains, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bo Cao ,
Baotian Pan ,
Jie Wang ,
Donghui Shangguan ,
Zhenling Wen ,
Wentao Qi ,
Hang Cui  and
Yaoyang Lu
Bo Cao
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
Baotian Pan*
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jie Wang
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
Donghui Shangguan
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Zhenling Wen
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
Wentao Qi
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
Hang Cui
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yaoyang Lu
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Arid Environments and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Gansu, Lanzhou 730000, China
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:panbt@lzu.edu.cn (B. Pan).
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Abstract

We investigate the changes at nine glaciers in the Ningchan and Shuiguan river source, eastern Qilian Mountains, between 1972 and 2010. According to analysis of topographic maps and multispectral satellite data, all nine glaciers in the study area have retreated, by a maximum of 250 ± 57.4 m and a minimum of 91 ± 57.4 m. The total glacier area decreased by 1.20 km2, corresponding to 9.9% of the glacierized area in 1972. Comparing the two DEMs generated from the topographic maps and Real-Time Kinematic GPS data, the mean glacier thinning rate was 0.64 m yr− 1 between 1972 and 2010. The most significant thinning generally occurred on the termini. The ice-volume loss was about 106.8 ± 46.7 × 10− 3 km3 (equal to 90.8 ± 39.7 × 10− 3 km3 w.e.), which suggested a mean water discharge of 0.1 ± 0.05 m3/s during 1972–2010. Based on analysis of meteorological data, the summer temperature (June–August) tends to increase over a similar time period. The consistency of temperature increase and glacier shrinkage allows us to suggest that air temperature plays an important role in glacier changes in this region.

Keywords

GPS RTKGlacier extentSurface elevationQilian Mountains
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 531 - 537
Copyright
University of Washington

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