The hydrological linkage of mountains and plains in the arid region of northwest China

Abstract

Mountain regions supply a large amount of fresh water for the people in arid and semiarid regions, however, there is great uncertainty of the water quantification from mountains to lower areas. In order to assess the hydrological significance of mountains and the hydrological linkage of mountains and plains, the measured and simulated hydrological data of the arid region in northwest China were used in the present research which followed a catchment-based approach. Firstly, the Heihe River Basin, a welldocumented area, was selected as a specific watershed to reveal the hydrological relationship between highlands (mountains) and lowlands (plains); and then, the significance and disproportion of mountain runoff of 8 river basins as cases in the arid region of northwest China were analyzed and compared following the above analysis. The results of the study showed that the proportion of mountain runoff in total basinal runoff (PMR) of most rivers is above 50%. The PMR are between 50%-95% in the rivers originated in the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains where the aqueous vapor is relatively sufficient. And that, almost all the flow of the rivers originating from the Qilian Mountains, the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, and the northern slope of the Kunlun Mountains come from mountain regions. Also the PMR gradually increases from west to east in northwest China. The hydrological significance and disproportion of mountains water in the arid region of northwest China were given a systematic and thorough assessment, and the results could give potential guides for the scientific utilization of water resources in these regional areas for relieving the more and more serious shortage of water resources due to climate warming and population expansion. Mountain, an important water-source region, can effectively supply water resources to its neighboring lower hills and plains. Not only abundant rainfall, there are also a large number of glaciers and snow storage in the high-altitude mountains. The melting water from glacier makes up large amount of water resources. Most rivers on the Earth have their sources in mountain regions. The relationship between mountains and plains in water balance is an important scientific problem. There were many researches about that and had a lot of results, especially in the glaciology and climatology [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Though the existing researches have actively promoted the development of mountain hydrology and the studies in water balance linkage of mountains and plains, there are still many contradictions and problems needed to be solved, such as the shortage of the systematic researches and quantificational describes about hydrological significance of mountains. The arid region of northwest China, located in the hinterland of the Eurasia, covers approximately 24.5% of China's total land area, and about 43.5% of it are mountains and hills [9][10][11]. Little precipitation with vast evaporation makes there become one of the world's most severe drought

Identification of the Factors Influencing the Baseflow in the Permafrost Region of the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

“…In recent years, it has been improved and applied to cold regions [24,25]. For example, the VIC model has been successfully used for hydrological simulation and evaluation of the land use impact on runoff of the Qilian Mountain [1], where the study area is located. The entire research period was divided into two periods: the calibration period (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) and the validation period (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009).…”

“…Runoff supplies essential water for human beings and ecological systems in arid regions [1]. Baseflow is an important component of river runoff in arid basins.…”

Late Quaternary aeolian sand deposition sustained by fluvial reworking and sediment supply in the Hexi Corridor — An example from northern Chinese drylands

“…Moreover, the control of a direct fluvial link between high mountains acting as water towers (cf. Qin et al, 2013) and (semi)arid forelands in sedimentary concerns is highlighted by this study. Additionally, this link may transfer a monsoonal moisture signal into regions that are located outside the range of atmospheric monsoonal moisture transport (e.g., EASM in central Asian drylands north of the Tibetan Plateau).…”

An evapotranspiration product for arid regions based on the three-temperature model and thermal remote sensing

“…Some research shows that DS may not be negligible in the Qilian Mountains at the annual scale, considering that it varies from 51 to 242 mm per year (Xu et al, 2014) and equals 19.7 mm over an 8-year period (Qin et al, 2013). However, DS may be negligible (close to zero) at the entire basin and middle-upper basin scales (Zhong et al, 2008;Qin et al, 2013). Because no DS values are available from the upper mountain basin, a comparison was performed for the middle-upper basin and the entire basin.…”