Accelerated changes of glaciers in the Yulong Snow Mountain, Southeast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Shijin Wang,Yanjun Che,Jiankuo Du,Hongxi Pang,Zhonglin Zhang

doi:10.1007/s10113-020-01624-7

Abstract

The Yulong Snow Mountain (YSM) is a region of temperate glaciers in the southeast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The present study systematically assessed the glacier changes during the past several decades using ground-based and remotely sensed observations and referencing topographic maps. The images and maps revealed that the glaciers area in the YSM retreated by 64.02% from 1957 to 2017. The length of Baishui River Glacier No. 1 decreased by 12.5 m/year during this period, whereas the front elevation of this glacier increased by 10.83 m/year. The mean annual mass balance of this glacier was at − 0.42 metre water equivalent from 1957 to 2017, and its accumulative mass balance was − 27.45 metre water equivalent. The glacier retreats of glacier area, glacier front, and mass balance in the YSM primarily resulted from the increasing air temperature. These glacier retreats not only will have a negative impact on glacier tourism in the future, e.g., the retreat or disappearance of glaciers will reduce the attractiveness of mountainous scenic spots, but also will create new opportunities for the development of local tourism, e.g., “last chance” will simulate tourists’ curiosity. Hence, the findings of our present study help to understand the mechanism between accelerated ablation of temperate glaciers and climate change in southeast regions of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and provide references for local tourism administrations.

Highlights

With an average altitude of more than 4000 m above sea level, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is considered to be the World’s “Third Pole” and has been called the “Roof of Communicated by Juan Ignacio Lopez MorenoGlaciers are affecting human society around the world in ways that exceed their role as a provider of fundamental sources of water (Gagné et al 2014) and tourism resources (Wang et al 2010)
The glacier area in the Yulong Snow Mountain (YSM) decreased by 7.97 km2 during the period from 1957 to 2017, and the glacier area decreased by − 1.07%/year on average
As glaciers are retreating in the majority of regions worldwide, glaciers in the YSM have experienced rapid retreat during the period from 1957 to 2017

Summary

Introduction

With an average altitude of more than 4000 m above sea level, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is considered to be the World’s “Third Pole” and has been called the “Roof of Communicated by Juan Ignacio Lopez MorenoGlaciers are affecting human society around the world in ways that exceed their role as a provider of fundamental sources of water (Gagné et al 2014) and tourism resources (Wang et al 2010). The area and length of glaciers in the Qilian Mountains declined by 21% from 1956 to 2010 (Sun et al 2018) and retreated by 5.7 m/year from 1956 to 2008 (Che et al 2017). Glaciers in Nyainqentanglha had a higher mass loss, with a mass balance of − 0.72 ± 0.27 metre water equivalent (m w.e.) (Brun et al 2017), whereas those of the Parlung Zangbo in the southeast QTP decreased by an area of 23% and a mass balance of − 0.19 ± 0.14 m w.e./year from the mid-1970s to 2000 (Zhou et al 2018). Temperate glaciers were more sensitive to air temperature than that of cold glaciers (Wang et al 2014)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion