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Contemporary processes of environmental information in the atmosphere-glacier-runoff system in an area of typical monsoon temperate glacier

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Abstract

Sampling was carried out at Baishui No. 1, the largest glacier on Mt. Yulong, China, during the summers of 1999 and 2000, to investigate the spatial variations of oxygen isotopes in the atmosphere-glacier-river system. The results confirm that there is an inverse relation between the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation and air temperature/precipitation amount. This suggests that a strong “precipitation amount effect” exists in this typical monsoon temperate-glacier region. There are marked differences of the δ18O values of winter-accumulated snow, glacial meltwater, summer precipitation and the glacier-fed river water. Spatial and temporal variations of isotopic composition are controlled by climatic conditions. Isotopic fractionation and differentiation occur during phase changes, snow-to-ice and ice-to-meltwater transformations, and runoff processes. Variations of stable isotopes in glacier runoff can indicate variations of sources of supply, as well as different discharge-related processes. Ionic changes occur as a result of meltwater contact with glacier bed materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Ice Core and Cold Region Environment, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China

    He Yuanqing, Yao Tandong, Zhang Xiaojun, Chen Tuo, Yang Meixue, Sun Weizhen & Li Fengxia

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  1. He Yuanqing
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  2. Yao Tandong
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  3. Zhang Xiaojun
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  4. Chen Tuo
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  5. Yang Meixue
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  6. Sun Weizhen
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  7. Li Fengxia
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Correspondence to He Yuanqing.

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He, Y., Yao, T., Zhang, X. et al. Contemporary processes of environmental information in the atmosphere-glacier-runoff system in an area of typical monsoon temperate glacier. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 44 (Suppl 1), 275–283 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02911997

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02911997

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