State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, China.
Laboratory of Green Chemistry, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Mikkeli, Finland.
PLoS One. 2018 Oct 11;13(10):e0205414. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205414. eCollection 2018.
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) released from glaciers has an important role in the biogeochemistry of glacial ecosystems. This study focuses on DOC from glaciers of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, where glaciers are experiencing rapid shrinkage. We found that concentrations of DOC in snowpits (0.16±0.054 μg g-1), aged snow (0.16±0.048 μg g-1), and bare ice (0.18±0.082 μg g-1) were similar across the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, but were slightly lower than those in other glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau. Vertical variations of DOC, particulate organic carbon, black carbon, and total nitrate in snowpit showed no systematic variations in the studied glaciers, with high values of DOC occurring in the ice or dusty layers. We estimated the export of DOC and particulate organic carbon from glaciers to be 1.96±0.66 Gg yr-1 and 5.88±2.15 Gg yr-1 in this region, respectively, indicating that organic carbon released from glacier meltwater may be affecting downstream ecosystems. Potential sources of the air masses arriving at the southeastern Tibetan glaciers include South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, and northwest China. Emissions from biomass burning of South Asia played an important role in the deposition of DOC to the glacier, which can be evidenced by backward trajectories and fire spot distributions from MODIS and CALIPSO images. Our findings suggest that anthropogenic aerosols contribute abundant DOC to glaciers on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The pronounced rate of glacial melting in the region may be delivering increased quantities of relic DOC to downstream rivers.
溶解有机碳(DOC)从冰川释放出来,对冰川生态系统的生物地球化学过程具有重要作用。本研究关注青藏高原东南部冰川的 DOC,这些冰川正在迅速退缩。我们发现,雪坑(0.16±0.054μg g-1)、老雪(0.16±0.048μg g-1)和裸冰(0.18±0.082μg g-1)中的 DOC 浓度在青藏高原东南部较为相似,但略低于青藏高原其他冰川。雪坑中 DOC、颗粒有机碳、黑碳和总硝酸盐的垂直变化在研究的冰川中没有系统变化,DOC 含量高的地方出现在冰或尘层中。我们估计,该地区冰川 DOC 和颗粒有机碳的输出量分别为 1.96±0.66Gg yr-1和 5.88±2.15Gg yr-1,表明冰川融水中释放的有机碳可能正在影响下游生态系统。到达青藏高原东南部冰川的气团的潜在来源包括南亚、中亚、中东和中国西北部。南亚生物质燃烧排放的物质对 DOC 向冰川的沉积起到了重要作用,这可以从 MODIS 和 CALIPSO 图像的后向轨迹和火灾点分布中得到证明。我们的研究结果表明,人为气溶胶为青藏高原东南部的冰川提供了丰富的 DOC。该地区冰川融化速度显著加快,可能会将更多的古老 DOC 输送到下游河流中。