A new map of permafrost distribution on the Tibetan Plateau

Zou, Defu; Zhao, Lin; Sheng, Yu; Chen, Ji; Hu, Guojie; Wu, Tonghua; Wu, Jichun; Xie, Changwei; Wu, Xiaodong; Pang, Qiangqiang; Wu, Wei; Du, Erji; Li, Wangping; Liu, Guangyue; Li, Jing; Qin, Yanhui; Qiao, Yongping; Wang, Zhiwei; Shi, Jianzong; Cheng, Guodong

doi:10.5194/tc-11-2527-2017

Cited by 600 publications

(499 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (QTP), the role of the permafrost and SOC has attracted much attention. The permafrost area in the QTP is about 106 × 10 4 km 2 [ Zou et al ., ] and is the largest middle‐ to low‐latitude permafrost area in the world. Changes in permafrost would lead to changes in the water‐energy balance on a regional scale [ Zhang et al ., ] since permafrost has complex interactions with the local environment including climate, soil moisture, and vegetation community [ Genxu et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual model of the controlling factors of soil organic carbon and nitrogen densities in a permafrost-affected region on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Han

Zhao

et al. 2017

J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci.

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Many investigations of the preservation of soil organic carbon (SOC) in permafrost regions have examined roles of geomorphology, pedogenesis, vegetation cover, and permafrost within particular regions. However, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of multiple factors on the SOC in permafrost regions due to the heterogeneity in environmental conditions. Based on data from 73 soil study sites in permafrost regions of the eastern Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, we developed a simple conceptual model, which relates SOC to topography, vegetation, and pedogenesis. We summarized the dominant factors and their controls on SOC using 31 measured soil physiochemical variables. Soil texture explains approximately 60% of the variations in the SOC stocks for the upper 0–2 m soil. Soil particle size closely correlates to soil moisture, which is an important determinant of SOC. Soil salinity and cations are important factors as well and can explain about 10% of the variations in SOC. The SOC and total nitrogen (TN) stocks for the 1–2 m depths have larger uncertainties than those of upper 1 m soil layer. The vegetation, pH, and bulk density mainly affects SOC and TN stocks for the upper 1 m soil layers, while the active layer thickness and soil particle size have greater influence on SOC and TN stocks for the 1–2 m soils. Our results suggest that the soil particle size is the most important controller of SOC pools, and the stocks of SOC and TN are strongly effected by soil development processes in the permafrost regions of the eastern Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual model of the controlling factors of soil organic carbon and nitrogen densities in a permafrost-affected region on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Han

Zhao

et al. 2017

J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci.

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“…The QTP covers more than 2.57 × 10 6 km 2 ; the permafrost area on the QTP encompasses approximately 1.06 × 10 6 km 2 (Zou et al, ). The QTP has a complex terrain; its mean altitude exceeds 4000 m, and the QTP has experienced significant hydro‐climatic change in the past decades (Qin, Yang, Liang, & Guo, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of reanalysis soil moisture products in the permafrost regions of the central of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Qin

et al. 2017

Hydrological Processes

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The long‐term and large‐scale soil moisture (SM) record is important for understanding land atmosphere interactions and their impacts on the weather, climate, and regional ecosystem. SM products are one of the parameters used in some Earth system models, but these records require evaluation before use. The water resources on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) are important to the water security of billions of people in Asia. Therefore, it is necessary to know the SM conditions on the QTP. In this study, the evaluation metrics of multilayer (0–10, 10–40, and 40–100 cm) SM in different reanalysis datasets of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts interim reanalysis (ERA‐Interim [ERA]), National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System and the Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2), and China Meteorological Administration Land Data Assimilation System (CLDAS) are compared with in situ observations at 5 observation sites, which represent alpine meadow, alpine swamp meadow, alpine grassy meadow, alpine desert steppe, and alpine steppe environments during the thawing season from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, on the QTP. The ERA SM remains constant at approximately 0.2 m3⋅m−3 at all observation sites during the entire thawing season. The CLDAS and CFSv2 SM products show similar patterns with those of the in situ SM observations during the thawing season. The CLDAS SM product performs better than the CFSv2 and ERA for all vegetation types except the alpine swamp meadow. The results indicate that the soil texture and land cover types play a more important role than the precipitation to increase the biases of the CLDAS SM product on the QTP.

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“…Frozen soil distribution of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (a; Zou et al, ) and location of the study area (b) and observation points (c)…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of land surface temperatures on suprapermafrost groundwater on the central Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Huang

Dai

Wang

et al. 2019

Hydrological Processes

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To investigate the influences of land surface temperatures (LSTs) on suprapermafrost groundwater discharge, a river valley was selected in a typical permafrost region of Fenghuoshan (FHS) watershed on the central Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. We developed a two‐dimensional model to simulate the suprapermafrost groundwater seasonal dynamics controlled by LSTs and the changing trends under a warming climate scenario (3°C/100 year). We calibrated key parameters of our model by the field observations at FHS watershed and analysed the relationship between the different LSTs and the suprapermafrost groundwater discharge dynamics in the active layer. The results show that (a) by changing the permeability of the active layer, the LSTs have a significant effect on the suprapermafrost groundwater discharge. A higher LST causes more suprapermafrost groundwater discharge, resulting in a different discharge pattern and affecting the ability to replenish the nearby river in the permafrost area. (b) Under a warming climate, the most obvious change in the suprapermafrost groundwater occurs in the freeze initiation period (from October to December), and there is a significant increase in the suprapermafrost groundwater discharge rate. This study reveals that the LST has a controlling effect on the seasonal dynamics of shallow groundwater systems in permafrost regions, indicating that the impact of local topography on the suprapermafrost groundwater should not be ignored in suprapermafrost groundwater simulations. Moreover, the warming simulation results demonstrate that the freezing season is the significant transformation period of suprapermafrost groundwater dynamics under future climate change, which can be used to better understand hydrological and ecological process changes in permafrost regions under climate warming.

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A new map of permafrost distribution on the Tibetan Plateau

Cited by 600 publications

References 58 publications

A conceptual model of the controlling factors of soil organic carbon and nitrogen densities in a permafrost-affected region on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

A conceptual model of the controlling factors of soil organic carbon and nitrogen densities in a permafrost-affected region on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Assessment of reanalysis soil moisture products in the permafrost regions of the central of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

The impact of land surface temperatures on suprapermafrost groundwater on the central Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

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