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Long-term soil temperature dynamics of the Kunlun Pass permafrost region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Theoretical and Applied Climatology (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

The thermal dynamics was important for permafrost change processes under climate change. However, little studies were focused on the soil thermal dynamics with long-term observed data in the permafrost region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). From 2005 to 2017, we have monitored thermal dynamic of active layer overlying permafrost in the Kunlun Pass (CN06 site) region of the QTP. Results demonstrated that the number of thaw days is lower than the number of freeze days, and the start dates of thawing and freezing were delayed over this period. Moreover, air and soil temperature were all fastest warming in summer at different depths, then in autumn, except in spring and winter which has a cooling trend at some depths. Accordingly, the mean annual soil temperatures exhibited an evident warming trend at different depths. In addition, thawing degree-days (TDD) for air and soil temperature (at 10 cm) showed an increasing trend, whereas the respective freezing degree-days (FDD) had a decreasing trend. The mean freezing and thawing n factor were 1.43 and 0.50 from 2005 to 2017, and the surface offset of the study site ranged from 2.65 to 3.42 °C, which was lower than those in the subarctic and Arctic regions. Meanwhile, there was a linear relationship between the TDDs and active layer thickness, and a power function relationship between the TDDa and active layer thickness. The active layer thickness exhibited a significant increase with the rate of 2.4 cm/year from 2005 to 2017. These results can be used to understand the thermal dynamics response to climate change and indicate related changes and differences in permafrost in different permafrost regions.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Joint Research Project of Three-River Headwaters National Park, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and The People’s Government of Qinghai Province (LHZX-2020–11-1), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071094, 41931180, 41801060), and the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2022430), and the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (20JR10RA028).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cryosphere Research Station On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Guojie Hu, Tonghua Wu, Xiaodong Wu, Ren Li, Xiaofan Zhu & Defu Zou

  2. School of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science &Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Lin Zhao

  3. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou, 511458, China

    Tonghua Wu

  4. School of Civil Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, China

    Junming Hao & Wangping Li

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  1. Guojie Hu
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  2. Lin Zhao
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  3. Tonghua Wu
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  4. Xiaodong Wu
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  5. Ren Li
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  9. Wangping Li
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by Guojie Hu, Lin Zhao, and Tonghua Wu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Guojie Hu. All authors read and approved the final.

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Correspondence to Guojie Hu.

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Hu, G., Zhao, L., Wu, T. et al. Long-term soil temperature dynamics of the Kunlun Pass permafrost region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Theor Appl Climatol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04083-8

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