Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

New insights into water cycle in permafrost region of northern Greater Khingan Mountains, China

  • Published:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of precipitation and temperature on the runoff and forest growth in the northern Greater Khingan Mountains of China through the hydrology, hydrochemistry and remote sensing methods. The rivers were found to be recharged not only by precipitation, but also by subpermafrost groundwater through water balance calculation and the relationships between precipitation, temperature and runoff. The stable isotope compositions of the river and groundwater more depleted than local precipitation indicating the great contribution of subpermafrost groundwater to runoff. Participation of subpermafrost groundwater makes the forest-permafrost water cycle in the northern Greater Khingan Mountains unique.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig.6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mckenzie JM, Voss CI (2013) Permafrost thaw in a nested groundwater-flow system. Hydrogeol J 21(1):299–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Woo MK (2012) Permafrost hydrology. Springer Science & Business Media, Heidelberg

  3. Smith LC, Pavelsky TM, Macdonald GM, And AIS, Lammers RB (2007) Rising minimum daily flows in northern Eurasian rivers: a growing influence of groundwater in the high-latitude hydrologic cycle. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 112(G4)

  4. Walvoord MA, Striegl RG (2007) Increased groundwater to stream discharge from permafrost thawing in the Yukon River basin: potential impacts on lateral export of carbon and nitrogen. Geophys Res Lett 34(12)

  5. Jacques JS, Sauchyn DJ (2009) Increasing winter baseflow and mean annual streamflow from possible permafrost thawing in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Geophys Res Lett 36(1)

  6. Kane DL, Yoshikawa K, Mcnamara JP (2013) Regional groundwater flow in an area mapped as continuous permafrost, NE Alaska (USA). Hydrogeol J 21(1):41–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chang J, Ye RZ, Wang GX (2018) Review: Progress in permafrost hydrogeology in China. Hydrogeol J 26(5):1387–1399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Li Z, Feng Q, Wang QJ (2016) Contribution from frozen soil meltwater to runoff in an in-land river basin under water scarcity by isotopic tracing in northwestern China. Global and Planetary Change 136

  9. Frampton A, Destouni G (2015) Impact of degrading permafrost on subsurface solute transport pathways and travel times. Water Resour Res 51(9):7680–7701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Watanabe K, Mizoguchi M (2002) Amount of unfrozen water in frozen porous media saturated with solution. Cold Reg Sci Technol 34(2):103–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Walvoord MA, Kurylyk BL (2016) Hydrologic impacts of thawing permafrost—a review. Vadose Zone J 15(6)

  12. Walvoord MA, Voss CI, Wellman TP (2012) Influence of permafrost distribution on groundwater flow in the context of climate-driven permafrost thaw: Example from Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska, United States. Water Resources Res 48(7)

  13. Baltzer JL, Veness T, Chasmer LE, Sniderhan AE, Quinton WL (2014) Forests on thawing permafrost: fragmentation, edge effects, and net forest loss. Glob Change Biol 20(3):824–834

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Christensen TR, Johansson T, Kerman HJ, Mastepanov M, Svensson BH (2004) Thawing sub-arctic permafrost: Effects on vegetation and methane emissions. Geophys Res Lett 31(4):367–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Jorgenson MT, Racine CH, Walters JC, Osterkamp TE (2001) Permafrost degradation and ecological changes associated with a warming climate in Central Alaska. Clim Change 48(4):551–579

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Hewlett JD, Helvey JD (1970) Effects of Forest Clear-Felling on the Storm Hydrograph. Water Resources Res 6(3)

  17. Jiang HY (2008) Study on Hydrological Characteristics of Forest Ecosystem in Daxing’anling. Dissertation, Northeast Forestry University, China

  18. Sniderhan AE, Baltzer JL (2016) Growth dynamics of black spruce (Picea mariana) in a rapidly thawing discontinuous permafrost peatland. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 121(12):2988–3000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Sun B (2020) Research on apace-time change of forest net primary productivity in permafrost region of Heilongjiang province and its response relation between surface temperature. Dissertation, Harbin Normal University

  20. Duan L, Man X, Kurylyk BL, Cai T, Li Q (2017) Distinguishing streamflow trends caused by changes in climate, forest cover, and permafrost in a large watershed in northeastern China. Hydrol Process 31(10):1938–1951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Piao S, Fang J, Ji W, Guo Q, Ke J, Tao S (2004) Variation in a satellite-based vegetation index in relation to climate in China. J Veg Sci 15(2):219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Sui Y, Jiang D, Tian Z (2013) Latest update of the climatology and changes in the seasonal distribution of precipitation over China. Theoret Appl Climatol 113(3–4):599–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bolduc C, Lamoureux SF, Franssen J (2018) Thermal and isotopic evidence for surface and subsurface water contributions to baseflow in a high Arctic river. Hydrol Process 32(5):602–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Chen JS, Wang CY (2009) Rising springs along the Silk Road. Geology 37(3):243–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Zhao YW (2010) Study on Geology and geochemistry of Quaternary volcanoes in the Da Hinggan Ling Mountains. Institude of Geology, China Earthquake Administration

  26. Zhou M (2003) Research on the hydrological process and laws of Larix gmelini ecosystem at Greater Xingan Mountains. Dissertation, Beijing Forestry University, China

  27. Yang XH, Wu B (2004) Preliminary assessment of forest function on soil and water conservation in Eastern Regions of Daxinganling Mountains. Sci Soil Water Conserv 2(4):11–16

    Google Scholar 

  28. Zheng QP (1980) Hydrogeological characteristics of permafrost and cold regions in Dahinganling. J Glaciol Geocryol 2(4):44–51

    Google Scholar 

  29. Duan L, Man X, Kurylyk BL, Cai T (2017) Increasing winter baseflow in response to permafrost thaw and precipitation regime shifts in Northeastern China. Water 9(1):25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Hao GJ (2009) The Variation of Soil Quality and the Sustainable Utilization of Hilly Dryland in the East of Great Xingan Mountains. Dissertation, China Agricultural University

  31. Wang N, Zang S, Zhang L (2018) Spatial and temporal variations of spermafrost thickness in Heilongjiang province in recent years. Geogr Res 37(3)

  32. Craig H (1961) Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science 133(3465):1702–1703

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Zhan L, Chen J, Li L, Pei X (2019) Plant water use strategies indicated by isotopic signatures of leaf water: Observations in southern and northern China. Agri For Meteorol 276–277

  34. Shao Y (1989) A case study on environmental isotope of groundwater in permafrost regions. Geotech Investig Surv 3:37–41

    Google Scholar 

  35. Bowen GJ, Wilkinson B (2002) Spatial distribution of {delta18O in meteoric precipitation. Geology 30(94):315–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Bing L, Su L, Shao Q, Liu J (2012) Changing Characteristic of land surface evaporation and soil moisture in China during the past 30 years. J Geo Inf Sci 14(01):5–17

    Google Scholar 

  37. He T, Shao Q (2014) Spatial-temporal Variation of Terrestrial Evapotranspiration in China from 2001 to 2010 Using MOD16 Products. J Geo Inf Sci 6(16):979–988

    Google Scholar 

  38. Su B, Zhou J, Wang Y, Tao H, Gao C, Liu F, Li X, Jiang T (2018) Spatial and Temporal Variation of Actual Evapotranspiration in China under the 1.5℃ and 2.0℃ Global Warming Scenarios. Chin J Agrometeorol 39 (5):293–303

  39. Zhan C, Xia J, Li Z, Niu C (2005) Modelling the spatial distribution of actual terrestrial evapotranspiration using hydrological and meteorological approach. IAHS AISH Publ 296:283–290

    Google Scholar 

  40. Li BS, Zhang GD (1996) Research on transpiration and its utilization for larix gmelinii at marshland within Da Xingan Mountains. J Neimenggu For College 18(4):18–23

    Google Scholar 

  41. Muskett R R, Romanovsky V E (2009) Groundwater storage changes in Arctic permafrost watersheds from GRACE and in situ measurements. Environ Res Lett 4(4), 045009

  42. Osterkamp T E (2007) Characteristics of the recent warming of permafrost in Alaska. J Geophys Res Earth Surf 112(F2)

  43. Defries RS, Townshend JRG (1994) NDVI-derived land cover classifications at a global scale. Int J Remote Sens 15(17):3567–3586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Lu L, Shuttleworth WJ (2002) Incorporating NDVI-derived LAI into the climate version of RAMS and its impact on regional climate. J Hydrometeorol 3(3):347–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Paruelo JM, Epstein HE, Lauenroth WK, Burke IC (1997) ANPP estimates from NDVI for the Central grassland Region of the United States. Ecology 78(3):953–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Wang J, Price KP, Rich PM (2001) Spatial patterns of NDVI in response to precipitation and temperature in the central Great Plains. Int J Remote Sens 22(18):3827–3844

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study is financially supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program (20185056032), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2018B48814). The authors are grateful for the help of the State Key Laboratory of Hydrology–Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering at Hohai University, where all analyses were performed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Fenyan Ma, Jiansheng Chen, Jiaheng Yan & Wenfeng Wang

  2. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Jiansheng Chen & Xi Zhang

  3. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Lucheng Zhan

Authors
  1. Fenyan Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiansheng Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lucheng Zhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xi Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jiaheng Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Wenfeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiansheng Chen.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ma, F., Chen, J., Zhan, L. et al. New insights into water cycle in permafrost region of northern Greater Khingan Mountains, China. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 330, 631–642 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-08013-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-08013-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation