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1.
Permafrost and climatic change in China   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  
The permafrost area in China is about 2.15×106 km2, and is generally characterized by altitudinal permafrost. Permafrost in China can be divided into latitudinal and altitudinal types, the latter can be further divided into plateau and alpine permafrost. Altitudinal permafrost also can be divided into five thermal stability types. The permafrost environment has changed significantly since the Late Pleistocene. In northeastern China, the southern limit of permafrost extended to 41–42°N during the last glaciation maximum; in the Holocene megathermal, it retreated northward. The ice wedges and permafrost formed during the Late Pleistocene are still present in the northern part of the Da-Xing'anling Mountains. The inactive ice wedges at Yitulihe indicate a cooling and subsequent permafrost expansion during the Late Pleistocene. The lower limit of altitudinal permafrost in western China has elevated from 800 to 1500 m since the last glaciation maximum. Compared with that in northern Europe and North America, latitudinal permafrost in northeastern China is less sensitive to climatic warming, but altitudinal permafrost, especially permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), is sensitive to climatic warming. Since the early 20th century, significant permafrost degradation has occurred and is occurring in most permafrost regions in China. Due to the combined influence of climatic warming and increasing anthropogenic activities, substantial retreat of permafrost is expected on the QTP and in northeastern China during the 21st century. Permafrost degradation has and will cast great influence on engineering construction, water resources and environments in the cold regions of China. The wetlands in the cold regions of China emit significant amounts of CH4 and N2O to the atmosphere and uptake atmospheric CO2 at a considerable rate, which might contribute to the global atmospheric carbon budget and feedback to climatic systems. However, uncertainties about permafrost changes, rates of changes and their environmental impacts are still large and call for intensive studying.  相似文献   

2.
Seasonal snow covers the tundra surface for up to nine months of each year on the Alaskan North Slope. Variations in the snow thickness could strongly influence the thermal regime of the underlying soil and permafrost, and the surface energy balance. The impacts of increases and decreases in the tundra snow thickness on the thermal regime of snow surface, active layer, and permafrost, and on the conductive heat flow to the atmosphere were investigated numerically, by using an improved surface energy balance approach based one-dimensional heat transfer model. The baseline inputs for the numerical model are mean daily meteorological data and surface albedos collected at Barrow, Alaska from 1995 through 1999. Based on a study for the long-term mean daily maximum and minimum snow thickness distributions at Barrow in the snow season of 1948 through 1997, a snow thickness factor was defined and five simulation cases were run for the snow season of 1997–1998 by changing the snow thickness factor. The modeled results indicate that changes in snow thickness have significant impacts on ground thermal regimes and conductive heat flow to the atmosphere. Decreasing the snow thickness by 50% led to the maximum ground temperature decrease of 1.48 °C at 0.29 m depth, and 0.72 °C at 3.0 m depth; the magnitude of the mean conductive heat flow to the atmosphere for December increase of 4.3 Wm− 2. Increasing the snow thickness by 50% resulted in the maximum ground temperature increase of 1.44 °C at 0.29 m depth, and 0.66 °C at 3.0 m depth; the magnitude of the mean conductive heat flow to the atmosphere for December decrease of 1.57 W m− 2. On an annual basis, variation in the snow thickness by 50%, the ground temperature variations of more than 0.25 °C occurred as deep as 8.0 m below the ground surface. The modeled results also show that changes in snow thickness have a relatively small influence on the snow surface temperature.  相似文献   

3.
This paper presents data concerning recent (1990–2007) surface morphological and ice-dynamical changes on the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand. We use remote-sensing data to derive rates of lake growth, glacier velocities and rates of glacier surface lowering. Between 1990 and 2007, the glacier terminus receded ~ 3.5 km and a large ice-contact proglacial lake developed behind the outwash head. By 2007 the lake area was ~ 6 km2 and had replaced the majority of the lowermost 4 km of the glacier tongue. There is evidence that lake growth is proceeding at increasing rates — the lake area doubled between 2000 and 2007 alone. Measured horizontal glacier velocities decline from 150 m a− 1 in the upper glacier catchment to almost zero at the glacier terminus and there is a consequent down-glacier increase in surface debris cover. Surface debris mapping shows that a large catastrophic rockfall onto the glacier surface in 1991 is still evident as a series of arcuate debris ridges below the Hochstetter icefall. Calculated glacier surface lowering is most clearly pronounced around the terminal area of the glacier tongue, with down-wasting rates of 4.2 ± 1.4 m a− 1 in areas adjacent to the lateral moraine ridges outside of the current lake extent. Surface lowering rates of approximately 1.9 ± 1.4 m a− 1 are common in the upper areas of the glacier. Calculations of future lake expansion are dependent on accurate bathymetric and bed topography surveys, but published data indicate that a further 8–10 km of the glacier is susceptible to calving and further lake development in the future.  相似文献   

4.
The heat needed to melt snow over the Tien Shan mountains and Japanese Islands for 10-day period (TDP) was estimated. Melting curves and a map of snowmelt duration were obtained through the long-term data from 79 stations in the Tien Shan mountains and 20 stations in the Japanese Islands. At high elevations in the mountains, about 40% of the snow melts during penultimate 10 days of snow cover. In the Japanese Islands, about 80% of the snow melts during the last 20 days of snow cover. Over the mountains, 0.13×104 MJ m2 year−1 is needed to melt snow in the northern and western Tien Shan where maximum snow accumulation occurred. The volume of air cooled 10 °C by snowmelt amounted to 4.4×106 km3 year−1 over the Tien Shan mountains and 3×106 km3 year−1 over the Japanese Islands. The most significant impact of snowmelt on air temperature was observed at an elevation of 2500 m in the western and northern Tien Shan. Air that was cooled 10 °C could reach an elevation of 2.1 km day−1. Over the Japanese Islands, energy losses from snowmelt amounted to 0.26×1014 MJ year−1 and the maximum occurred over Honshu Island. The heat loss from snowmelt in the Tien Shan mountains and Japanese Islands amounted to about 2/3 of heat loss in the Eurasian continental plains.  相似文献   

5.
Hielo Patagónico Sur (HPS), an icefield in Southern Patagonia, is the largest temperate ice mass in the southern hemisphere. Despite continued research efforts during the last decade many glaciological variables, especially mass balance, are still poorly known. This is partly because access to the icefield is difficult due to remoteness and persistent harsh weather conditions. Therefore, remote sensing appears to be a more suitable tool for the acquisition of data. In this work we present a remote sensing study of snow zonation on HPS using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper data acquired on 12 March 2001. By using image processing and classification techniques, proved to be useful in other glaciated regions, we map for the first time the extent and occurrence of major snow zones on the whole HPS. We separate between two classes of ice and three classes of snow. Ice facies are classified as bare or debris (i.e. dirt) covered ice, covering 2454 km2 and 777 km2 respectively, or 18.4% and 5.8% of the icefield on the day of image acquisition. Snow types are classified according to spectral differences in the images, following the glacier facies concept. Two of the three snow cover types are interpreted to represent differences in snow grain size within a fairly homogeneous snow pack whereas the third one is interpreted to represent the slush zone. A first order altitudinal control on the distribution of these snow facies is evident. In addition, our results show that snow accumulation on HPS is markedly controlled by the interaction of strong west–northwest snow-bearing winds and the rough mountainous terrain. In order of decreasing altitude we find that the two snow facies and the slush facies occupy 3819 km2, 3292 km2 and 2295 km2 respectively, or 28.6%, 24.6% and 17.2% of the icefield, on the day of image acquisition. Estimates of equilibrium line altitude using our results yield values of 800–900 m above sea level for the western side and 1500–1600 m above sea level for the eastern side, with an accumulation area ratio of 0.74.  相似文献   

6.
High thinning rates (up to − 4.0 ± 0.97 m a− 1) have been measured at Campo de Hielo Patagónico Norte (CHN) or Northern Patagonia Icefield, Chile between 1975 and 2001. Results have been obtained by comparing a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from regular cartography compiled by Instituto Geográfico Militar of Chile (IGM) based upon 1974/1975 aerial photographs and a DEM generated from Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite images acquired in September 2001. A complete cloud-free Landsat ETM+ satellite image mosaic acquired in March 2001 was used to update the available glacier inventory of the CHN, including all glaciers larger than 0.5 km2 (48 new glaciers). A new delineation of ice divides was also performed over the accumulation areas of glaciers sharing the high plateau where the existing regular cartography exhibits poor coverage of topographic information. This updated glacier inventory produced a total ice area for 2001 of 3953 km2, which represents a decrease of 3.4 ± 1.5% (140 ± 61 km2 of ice) with respect to the total ice area of the CHN in 1979 calculated from a Landsat MSS satellite image. Almost 62% of the total area change between 1979 and 2001 took place in glaciers located at the western margin of the CHN, where the maximum area loss was experienced by Glaciar San Quintín with 33 km2. At the southern margin, Glaciar Steffen underwent the largest ice-area loss (12 km2 or 2.6% of the 1979 area), whilst at the eastern margin the greatest area loss took place in Glaciares Nef (7.9 km2, 5.7% of the 1979 area) and Colonia (9.1 km2, 2.7% of the 1979 area). At the northern margin of the CHN the lower debris-covered ablation area of Glaciar Grosse collapsed into a new freshwater lake formed during the late 1990s. The areal changes measured at the CHN are much larger than previously estimated due to the inclusion of changes experienced in the accumulation areas. The CHN as a whole is contributing melt water to global sea level rise at rates  25% higher than previous estimates.  相似文献   

7.
This research presents a precise evaluation of the Tien Shan glacier's recession based on data of geodetic surveys 1861–1869, aerial photographs from 1943, 1963, 1977, 1981, 1:25,000 scale topographic maps, SRTM, and ASTER data from 2000/2003 for the Akshiirak glacierized massif in the central Tien Shan with 178 glaciers covering 317.6 km2, and for the Ala Archa glacier basin in the northern Tien Shan with 48 glaciers covering 36.31 km2.The Tien Shan glaciers retreated as much as 3 km from the 1860s to 2003. From 1943 to 1977, Akshiirak and Ala Archa shrunk 4.2% and 5.1% respectively, and from 1977 to 2003 the area shrunk 8.6% and 10.6%, respectively. The volume of the Akshiirak glaciers was reduced by 3.566 km3 from 1943 to 1977 and 6.147 km3 from 1977 to 2000.The total reduction of the Tien Shan glacier is 14.2% during the last 60 yr. The northern and central Tien Shan have not experienced a significant increase of precipitation during the last 100 yr, but they have experienced an increase in summer air temperatures, especially observable since the 1970s, which caused an acceleration of the Tien Shan glaciers recession.  相似文献   

8.
Past and present glacier changes have been studied at Cordón Martial, Cordillera Fueguina Oriental, Tierra del Fuego, providing novel data for the Holocene deglaciation history of southern South America and extrapolating as well its future behavior based on predicted climatic changes. Regional geomorphologic and stratigraphic correlations indicate that the last glacier advance deposited the ice-proximal (“internal”) moraines of Cordón Martial, around 330 14C yr BP, during the Late Little Ice Age (LLIA). Since then glaciers have receded slowly, until 60 years ago, when major glacier retreat started. There is a good correspondence for the past 100 years between the surface area variation of four small cirque glaciers at Cordón Martial and the annual temperature and precipitation data of Ushuaia. Between 1984 and 1998, Martial Este Glacier lost 0.64 ± 0.02 × 106 m3 of ice mass (0.59 ± 0.02 × 106 m3 w.e.), corresponding to an average ice thinning of 7.0 ± 0.2 m (6.4 ± 0.2 m w.e), according to repeated topographic mapping. More detailed climatic data have been obtained since 1998 at the Martial Este Glacier, including air temperature, humidity and solar radiation. These records, together with the monthly mass balance measured since March 2000, document the annual response of the Martial Este Glacier to the climate variation. Mass balances during hydrological years were positive in 2000, negative in 2001 and near equilibrium in 2002. Finally, using these data and the regional temperature trend projections, modeled for different future scenarios by the Atmosphere-Ocean Model (GISS-NASA/GSFC), potential climatic-change effects on this mountain glacier were extrapolated. The analysis shows that only the Martial Este Glacier may survive this century.  相似文献   

9.
Fluctuations of glaciers during the 20th century in Garibaldi Provincial Park, in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, were reconstructed from historical documents, aerial photographs, and fieldwork. Over 505 km2, or 26%, of the park, was covered by glacier ice at the beginning of the 18th century. Ice cover decreased to 297 km2 by 1987–1988 and to 245 km2 (49% of the early 18th century value) by 2005. Glacier recession was greatest between the 1920s and 1950s, with typical frontal retreat rates of 30 m/a. Many glaciers advanced between the 1960s and 1970s, but all glaciers retreated over the last 20 years. Times of glacier recession coincide with warm and relatively dry periods, whereas advances occurred during relatively cold periods. Rapid recession between 1925 and 1946, and since 1977, coincided with the positive phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), whereas glaciers advanced during its negative phase (1890–1924 and 1947–1976). The record of 20th century glacier fluctuations in Garibaldi Park is similar to that in southern Europe, South America, and New Zealand, suggesting a common, global climatic cause. We conclude that global temperature change in the 20th century explains much of the behaviour of glaciers in Garibaldi Park and elsewhere.  相似文献   

10.
This paper evaluates the suitability of readily available elevation data derived from recent sensors – the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) – for glaciological applications. The study area is Nevado Coropuna (6426 m), situated in Cordillera Ampato of Southern Peru. The glaciated area was 82.6 km2 in 1962, based on aerial photography. We estimate the glacier area to be ca. 60.8 km2 in 2000, based on analysis of the ASTER L1B scene.We used two 1:50,000 topographic maps constructed from 1955 aerial photography to create a digital elevation model with 30 m resolution, which we used as a reference dataset. Of the various interpolation techniques examined, the TOPOGRID algorithm was found to be superior to other techniques, and yielded a DEM with a vertical accuracy of ± 14.7 m. The 1955 DEM was compared to the SRTM DEM (2000) and ASTER DEM (2001) on a cell-by-cell basis. Steps included: validating the DEM's against field GPS survey points on rock areas; visualization techniques such as shaded relief and contour maps; quantifying errors (bias) in each DEM; correlating vertical differences between various DEM's with topographic characteristics (elevation, slope and aspect) and subtracting DEM elevations on a cell-by-cell basis.The RMS error of the SRTM DEM with respect to GPS points on non-glaciated areas was 23 m. The ASTER DEM had a RMS error of 61 m with respect to GPS points and displayed 200–300 m horizontal offsets and elevation ‘spikes’ on the glaciated area when compared to the DEM from topographic data.Cell-by-cell comparison of SRTM and ASTER-derived elevations with topographic data showed ablation at the toes of the glaciers (− 25 m to − 75 m surface lowering) and an apparent thickening at the summits. The mean altitude difference on glaciated area (SRTM minus topographic DEM) was − 5 m, pointing towards a lowering of the glacier surface during the period 1955–2000. Spurious values on the glacier surface in the ASTER DEM affected the analysis and thus prevented us from quantifying the glacier changes based on the ASTER data.  相似文献   

11.
Climate changes and recent glacier behaviour in the Chilean Lake District   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  
Atmospheric temperatures measured at the Chilean Lake District (38°–42°S) showed contrasting trends during the second half of the 20th century. The surface cooling detected at several meteorological stations ranged from − 0.014 to − 0.021 °C a− 1, whilst upper troposphere (850–300 gpm) records at radiosonde of Puerto Montt (41°26′S/73°07′W) revealed warming between 0.019 and 0.031 °C a− 1. Regional rainfall data collected from 1961 to 2000 showed the overall decrease with a maximum rate of − 15 mm a− 2 at Valdivia st. (39°38′S/73°05′W). These ongoing climatic changes, especially the precipitation reduction, seem to be related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena which has been more frequent after 1976. Glaciers within the Chilean Lake District have significantly retreated during recent decades, in an apparent out-of-phase response to the regional surface cooling. Moreover, very little is known about upper troposphere changes and how they can enhance the glacier responses. In order to analyse their behaviour in the context of the observed climate changes, Casa Pangue glacier (41°08′S/71°52′W) has been selected and studied by comparing Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) computed at three different dates throughout the last four decades. This approach allowed the determination of ice elevation changes between 1961 and 1998, yielding a mean thinning rate of − 2.3 ± 0.6 m a− 1. Strikingly, when ice thinning is computed for the period between 1981 and 1998, the resulting rate is 50% higher (− 3.6 ± 0.6 m a− 1). This enhanced trend and the related area loss and frontal retreat suggests that Casa Pangue might currently be suffering negative mass balances in response to the upper troposphere warming and decreased precipitation of the last 25–30 yr, as well as debris cover would not prevent the glacier from a fast reaction to climate forcing. Most of recent glaciological studies regarding Andean glaciers have concentrated on low altitude changes, namely frontal variations, however, in order to better understand the regional glacier changes, new data are necessary, especially from the accumulation areas.  相似文献   

12.
A glaciological program has been undertaken since 1991 on Zongo glacier in Bolivia (6000–4850 m asl, 2.4 km2, 16°S). This program involves mass balance measurements, hydrological studies and energy balance investigations. On outer-tropical glaciers, melting and snow accumulation are both maximum in the wet season (austral summer), whereas the dry season (winter) is a period of low ablation. Errors on each term of the glaciological (stakes, snow-pits and integration method of the measurements) and hydrological (precipitation, discharge and runoff coefficient of free ice areas) methods are investigated to estimate the overall accuracy of the mass balance measurements. The hydrological budget is less than the glaciological one (mean difference: 60 cm w.e. per year), but both methods reproduce similar inter-annual variations. Errors in assessment of evaporation or water storage inside the glacier cannot explain the discrepancy. Errors using the glaciological method are large (around ± 40 cm w.e. per year), but no bias can explain the departure from the hydrological balance. Errors on discharge measurements are small and the uncertainty on the runoff coefficient has a minor effect on the mass balance. We concluded that hydrological budgets are too low due to the catch deficiency of rain gauges and absence of precipitation measurements at high altitudes, emphasizing the difficulty to assess snowfall distribution in high mountainous basins.  相似文献   

13.
Recent observations showing substantial diurnal changes in velocities of glaciers flowing into the ocean, measured at locations far inland of glacier grounding lines, add fuel to the ongoing debate concerning the ability of glaciers to transmit longitudinal-stress perturbations over large distances. Resolution of this debate has major implications for the prediction of glacier mass balance, because it determines how rapidly a glacier can respond dynamically to changes such as weakening or removal of an ice shelf. Current IPCC assessment of sea-level rise takes little account of such changes, on the assumption that dynamic responses would be too slow to have any appreciable effect on ice discharge fluxes. However, this assumption must be questioned in view of observations showing massive increases in glacier velocities following removal of parts of the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and of others showing diurnal velocity changes apparently linked to the tides.Here, I use a simple force-perturbation model to calculate the response of glacier strain rates to tidal rise and fall, assuming associated longitudinal-force perturbations are transmitted swiftly far inland of the glacier grounding line. Results show reasonable agreement with observations from an Alaskan glacier, where the velocity changes extended only a short distance up-glacier. However, for larger Antarctic glaciers, big velocity changes extending far upstream cannot be explained by this mechanism, unless ice-shelf “back forces” change substantially with the tides.Additional insight will require continuous measurement of velocity and strain-rate profiles along flow lines of glaciers and ice shelves. An example is suggested, involving continuous GPS measurements at a series of locations along the centre line of Glaciar San Rafael, Chile, extending from near the calving front to perhaps 20 km inland. Tidal range here is about ± 0.8 m, which should be sufficient to cause a variation in ice-front velocity of ± 2 cm h− 1 about its average value of 75 cm h− 1, assuming local seawater depth of 150 m and glacier thickness of 200–400 m.  相似文献   

14.
Snow algae in a 45.97-m-long ice core from the Tyndall Glacier (50°59′05″S, 73°31′12″W, 1756 m a.s.l.) in the Southern Patagonian Icefield were examined for potential use in ice core dating and estimation of the net accumulation rate. The core was subjected to visual stratigraphic observation and bulk density measurements in the field, and later to analyses of snow algal biomass, water isotopes (18O, D), and major dissolved ions. The ice core contained many algal cells that belonged to two species of snow algae growing in the snow near the surface: Chloromonas sp. and an unknown green algal species. Algal biomass and major dissolved ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, SO42−) exhibited rapid decreases in the upper 3 m, probably owing to melt water elution and/or decomposition of algal cells. However, seasonal cycles were still found for the snow algal biomass, 18O, D-excess, and major ions, although the amplitudes of the cycles decreased with depth. Supposing that the layers with almost no snow algae were the winter layers without the melt water essential to algal growth, we estimated that the net accumulation rate at this location was 12.9 m a− 1 from winter 1998 to winter 1999, and 5.1 m from the beginning of winter to December 1999. These estimates are similar to the values estimated from the peaks of 18O (17.8 m a− 1 from summer 1998 to summer 1999 and 11.0 m from summer to December 1999) and those of D-excess (14.7 m a− 1 from fall 1998 to fall 1999 and 8.6 m a− 1 from fall to December 1999). These values are much higher than those obtained by past ice core studies in Patagonia, but are of the same order of magnitude as those predicted from various observations at ablation areas of Patagonian glaciers.  相似文献   

15.
Accumulation of organic matter (OM) was studied in four ombrotrophic peat bogs in Finland: Harjavalta (vicinity of a Cu–Ni smelter), Outokumpu (near a closed Cu–Ni mine), Alkkia (Ni-treated site) and Hietajärvi (a pristine site). At each sampling site, two peat cores (15 × 15 × 100 cm) were taken. Age-dating of peat was determined using 210Pb method (CRS model). The local annual temperature sum and precipitation for the past 125 years were modeled. The objective was to compare recent net accumulation rates of heavy metal polluted ombrotrophic peat bogs with those of a pristine bog, and to study the relationship between weather and net accumulation rates. Based on 210Pb age-dating, the upper 16-cm peat layer at Harjavalta, 35 cm at Outokumpu and 25 cm at Hietajärvi represents 125 years of peat formation, yielding the following average peat accumulation rates: Harjavalta 1.3 mm year− 1, Outokumpu 2.8 mm year− 1 and Hietajärvi 2.0 mm year− 1. At the Alkkia site, the Ni treatment in 1962 had completely stopped the peat accumulation. Net accumulation rates were related to precipitation at Outokumpu, Harjavalta and Hietajärvi sites. In addition, emissions released from the nearby located Cu–Ni smelter could have affected negatively net OM accumulation rate at Harjavalta site.  相似文献   

16.
The Gran Campo Nevado (GCN) forms an isolated ice cap on the Península Muñoz Gamero (PMG) located 200 km to the south of the Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI). We present a glacier inventory of the GCN made up by 27 drainage basins (in total 199.5 km2) and other small cirque and valley glaciers of the southern part of PMG (in total 53 km2). The glacier inventory is based on a digital elevation model (DEM) and ortho-photos. Contour lines from maps, relief information derived from Landsat TM satellite imagery from 1986 and 2002 and stereoscopic data from aerial photos were combined in a knowledge-based scheme to obtain a DEM of the area. A digital ortho-photo map based on aerial photos from 1998 and several ortho-photos based on aerial photos from 1942 and 1984 could be produced from the initial DEM. A geographical information system (GIS) served to outline the extent of the present glaciation. All major glaciers of the GCN show a significant glacier retreat during the last 60 yr. Some of the outlet glaciers lost more than 20% of their total area during this period. Overall glacier retreat amounts to 2.8% of glacier length per decade and the glacier area loss is 2.4% per decade in the period from 1942 to 2002. We hypothesise that GCN glaciers may have reacted faster and more synchronously with the observed warming trend during recent decades when compared with the SPI.  相似文献   

17.
Climatic changes of the 20th century have altered the water cycle in the Andean basins of central Argentina. The most visible change is seen in the mountain glaciers, with loss of part of their mass due to decreasing thickness and a substantial recession in the last 100 years. This paper briefly describes the results of glacier mass balance research since 1979 in the Piloto Glacier at the Cajón del Rubio, in the headwaters of Las Cuevas River, presenting new results for the period 1997–2003. Very large interannual variability of net annual specific balance is evident, due largely to variations in winter snow accumulation, with a maximum net annual value of + 151 cm w.e. and a minimum value of - 230 cm w.e. Wet El Niño years are normally associated with positive net annual balances, while dry La Niña years generally result in negative balances. Within the 24-year period, 67% of the years show negative net annual specific balances, with a cumulative mass balance loss of - 10.50 m water equivalent (w.e.). Except for exceptions normally related to El Niño events, a general decreasing trend of winter snow accumulation is evident in the record, particularly after 1992, which has a strong effect in the overall negative mass balance values. The glacier contribution to Las Cuevas River runoff is analysed based on the Punta de Vacas River gauge station for a hypothetical year without snow precipitation (YWSP), when the snowmelt component is zero. Extremely dry years similar to a YWSP have occurred in 1968–1969, 1969–1970 and 1996–1997. The Punta de Vacas gauge station is located 62 km downstream from Piloto Glacier, and the basin contains 3.0% of uncovered glacier ice and 3.7% of debris-covered ice. The total glacier contribution to Las Cuevas River discharge is calculated as 82 ± 8% during extremely dry years. If glacier wastage continues at the present trend as observed during the last 2 decades, it will severely affect the water resources in the arid central Andes of Argentina.  相似文献   

18.
The snow cover of the Northern Patagonia Icefield (NPI) was monitored after applying the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and the Red/NIR band ratio to 134 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images captured between 2000 and 2006. The final results show that the snow cover extent of the NPI fluctuates a lot in winter, in addition to its seasonal behaviour. The minimum snow cover extent of the period (3600 km2) was observed in March 2000 and the maximum (11,623 km2) in August 2001. We found that temperature accounts for approximately 76% of the variation of the snow cover extent over the entire icefield. We also show two different regimes of winter snow cover fluctuations corresponding to the eastern and the western sides of the icefield. The seasonality of the snow cover on the western side was determined by temperature rather than precipitation, while on the east side the seasonality of the snow cover was influenced by the seasonal behaviour of both temperature and precipitation. This difference can be explained by the two distinct climates: coastal and continental. The fluctuations in the winter snow cover extent were more pronounced and less controlled by temperature on the western side than on the eastern side of the icefield. Snow cover extent was correlated with temperature R2 = 0.75 and R2 = 0.74 for the western and eastern sides, respectively. Since limited meteorological data are available in this region, our investigation confirmed that the change in snow cover is an interesting climatic indicator over the NPI providing important insights in mass balance comprehension. Since snow and ice were distinguished snow cover fluctuations can be associated to fluctuations in the snow accumulation area of the NPI. In addition, days with minimum snow covers of summer season can be associated to the period in which Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) is the highest.  相似文献   

19.
Quaternary uplift of northern England   总被引：3，自引：3，他引：0  
Upland flats, attributable to erosion, have long been recognised in the landscape of the Lake District region of NW England, at altitudes of up to ~ 800 m O.D. Extrapolation using uplift rates derived from dated Pleistocene sites (karstic caves and other features) in the adjacent Pennine uplands suggests that if this succession of flats formed close to sea-level they date from the Middle Pliocene onwards, indicating a subsequent time-averaged uplift rate of almost 0.3 mm a− 1. Numerical modelling indicates that erosion of surrounding areas at a typical rate of 0.2 mm a− 1 since 3.1 Ma could have caused this uplift, as well as constraining the local effective viscosity of the lower crust as ~ 4 × 1018 Pa s and the typical local Moho temperature as ~ 650 °C. It is thus feasible that most of the topography of northern England has developed since the Middle Pliocene, as a consequence of coupling between erosion and the resulting induced flow in the lower continental crust. The much faster vertical crustal motions indicated in this part of northern England, compared with SE England, are thus mainly a consequence of much greater mobility of the lower crust in the north, due to its younger thermal age and the heating effect of radioactive Palaeozoic granites. Uplift of this magnitude, which has previously gone unrecognised, may have affected post-Pliocene global climate.  相似文献   

20.
A digital 3D-reconstruction of the Baltic Ice Lake's (BIL) configuration during the termination of the Younger Dryas cold phase (ca. 11 700 cal. yr BP) was compiled using a combined bathymetric–topographic Digital Terrain Model (DTM), Scandinavian ice sheet limits, Baltic Sea Holocene bottom sediment thickness information, and a paleoshoreline database maintained at the Lund University. The bathymetric–topographic DTM, assembled from publicly available data sets, has a resolution of 500 × 500 m on Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area projection allowing area and volume calculations of the BIL to be made with an unprecedented accuracy. When the damming Scandinavian ice sheet margin eventually retreated north of Mount Billingen, the high point in terrain of Southern central Sweden bordering to lower terrain further to the north, the BIL was catastrophically drained resulting in a 25 m drop of the lake level. With our digital reconstruction, we estimate that approximately 7800 km3 of water drained during this event and that the ice dammed lake area was reduced by ca. 18%. Building on previous results suggesting drainage over 1 to 2 years, our lake volume calculations imply that the freshwater flux to the contemporaneous sea in the west was between about 0.12 and 0.25 Sv. The BIL reconstruction provides new detailed information on the paleogeography in the area of southern Scandinavia, both before and after the drainage event, with implications for interpretations of geological records concerning the post-glacial environmental development.  相似文献   

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