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Assessment of terrain susceptibility to thermokarst lake development along the Qinghai–Tibet engineering corridor, China

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Abstract

Thermokarst lakes have been developing recently along the Qinghai–Tibet engineering corridor in association with increased human activity and persistent climatic warming. Based on field observations, we assessed the susceptibility of terrain to the development of thermokarst lakes between the Chumaerhe River and Fenghuoshan mountain pass. A susceptibility map of the region was created in a geographic information system by assessing seven controlling factors, ranked using the analytic hierarchy process. The resulting susceptibility values ranged between 0.1 and 0.66. These susceptibility values were divided into four classes (high, moderate, low, and lowest) according to the mutagenesis point method. Areas with values between 0.1 and 0.16 were considered to have the ‘lowest’ susceptibility, while those between 0.26 and 0.66 were considered to have ‘high’ susceptibility. Using SPOT-5 satellite data, we determined that the high-susceptibility areas contained approximately 91 % of the total thermokarst lake area in the study region, and 88 % of the number of lakes. The moderate, low, and lowest level areas accounted for about 52 % of the study region, but only contained 9 % of the total lake area and 12 % of the lakes. Finally, relations between the area of the thermokarst lakes and the main controlling factors, e.g., ground ice content, ground temperature, vegetation type, and altitude were discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Plan, 2012CB026101), the Western Project Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-XB3-19), and the Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Highway Construction and Maintenance Technology in Permafrost Region, CCCC First Highway Consultants Co. Ltd. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the editors and the two anonymous reviewers who provided insightful suggestions, which significantly benefited the authors during the revision process. We are also grateful to Brendan O’Neill, Ph.D. candidate at Carleton University, who helped improve the English in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Fujun Niu, Zhanju Lin & Jing Luo

  2. Chongqing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Chongqing, 400042, China

    Jiahao Lu

  3. Hubei Geomatics Information Center, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Huini Wang

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  1. Fujun Niu
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  2. Zhanju Lin
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  3. Jiahao Lu
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  4. Jing Luo
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  5. Huini Wang
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Correspondence to Zhanju Lin.

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Niu, F., Lin, Z., Lu, J. et al. Assessment of terrain susceptibility to thermokarst lake development along the Qinghai–Tibet engineering corridor, China. Environ Earth Sci 73, 5631–5642 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3818-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3818-0

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