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A multi-model analysis of glacier equilibrium line altitudes in western China during the last glacial maximum

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  • Special Topic: China since the Last Glacial Maximum
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Abstract

Based on numerical experiments undertaken with nine climate models, the glacier equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) in western China during the last glacial maximum (LGM) are investigated to deepen our understanding of the surface environment on the Tibetan Plateau. Relative to the preindustrial period, the summer surface air temperatures decrease by 4–8°C while the annual precipitation decreases by an average of 25% across the Tibetan Plateau during the LGM. Under the joint effects of reductions in summer temperature and annual precipitation, the LGM ELAs in western China are lowered by magnitudes that vary with regions. The ELAs in the southern margin and northwestern Tibetan Plateau decline by approximately 1100 m; the central hinterland, by 650–800 m; and the eastern part, by 550–800 m, with a downward trend from southwest to northeast. The reduction in ELAs is no more than 650 m in the Tian Shan Mountains within China and approximately 500–600 m in the Qilian Mountains and Altai Mountains. The high-resolution models to reproduce the low values of no more than 500 m in ELA reductions in the central Tibetan Plateau, which are consistent with the proxy records from glacier remains. The accumulation zones of the Tibetan Plateau glaciers are mainly located in the marginal mountains during the LGM and have areas 2–5 times larger than those of the modern glaciers but still do not reach the central part.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions to improve this manuscript. We also acknowledge the climate modelling groups (listed in Table 1) for producing and sharing their model outputs. This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA20070103) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41625018 & 41421004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Dabang Jiang, Yeyi Liu & Xianmei Lang

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Dabang Jiang & Xianmei Lang

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Dabang Jiang & Xianmei Lang

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Dabang Jiang & Yeyi Liu

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  1. Dabang Jiang
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Correspondence to Dabang Jiang.

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Jiang, D., Liu, Y. & Lang, X. A multi-model analysis of glacier equilibrium line altitudes in western China during the last glacial maximum. Sci. China Earth Sci. 62, 1241–1255 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9266-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9266-8

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