Barandun Martina, Pohl Eric, Naegeli Kathrin, McNabb Robert, Huss Matthias, Berthier Etienne, Saks Tomas, Hoelzle Martin
Department of Geosciences University of Fribourg Fribourg Switzerland.
Laboratory for Environmental Chemistry Paul Scherrer Institute Villigen Switzerland.
Geophys Res Lett. 2021 Jun 8;48(11):e2020GL092084. doi: 10.1029/2020GL092084. Epub 2021 Jun 9.
The Tien Shan and Pamir mountains host over 28,000 glaciers providing essential water resources for increasing water demand in Central Asia. A disequilibrium between glaciers and climate affects meltwater release to Central Asian rivers, challenging the region's water availability. Previous research has neglected temporal variability. We present glacier mass balance estimates based on transient snowline and geodetic surveys with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution from 1999/00 to 2017/18. Our results reveal spatiotemporal heterogeneity characterized by two mass balance clusters: (a) positive, low variability, and (b) negative, high variability. This translates into variable glacial meltwater release (≈1-16%) of annual river runoff for two watersheds. Our study reveals more complex climate forcing-runoff responses and importance of glacial meltwater variability for the region than suggested previously.
天山和帕米尔山脉拥有超过28000条冰川，为中亚地区不断增长的用水需求提供了至关重要的水资源。冰川与气候之间的失衡影响了向中亚河流的融水排放，对该地区的水资源供应构成挑战。以往的研究忽略了时间变异性。我们基于1999/00至2017/18年具有前所未有的时空分辨率的瞬态雪线和大地测量，给出了冰川质量平衡估计。我们的结果揭示了时空异质性，其特征为两个质量平衡集群：（a）正的、低变异性的，以及（b）负的、高变异性的。这导致两个流域的冰川融水径流量年变化率在1%至16%之间。我们的研究揭示了比以往所认为的更为复杂的气候强迫 - 径流响应，以及冰川融水变异性对该地区的重要性。
