Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China.
State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China; Yinshanbeilu National Field Research Station of steppe Eco-hydrological System, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Hohhot 010020, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 1;837:155595. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155595. Epub 2022 Apr 28.
The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is the area with most high-altitude lakes in the world, of which most are in the Qiangtang Plateau (QP), the endorheic basin of the TP. Since the 1990s, abundant studies have reported the accelerated expansion of lakes in the QP. However, the dominant factors affecting lakes expansion or shrinkage are still controversial. Here we extract six periods of 300 lakes according to the satellite image. It indicates that 90% of the lakes in the QP were expanding, mainly located in the middle of the plateau; 10% of the lakes tended to shrink, mainly located in the areas surrounding the plateau and near the Tanggula Mountain and Nyainqentanglha Mountain, with an altitude over 4500 m. Meanwhile, we explored the influence factors for lake area changes by analyzing the variations in precipitation and glacier. Seven different driving models leading to the lake changes are proposed. Lake expansion was mainly caused by the increase of precipitation and glacier melting, while the causes of lake shrinkage are quite different, such as the change of precipitation and evaporation, the geological structure of lake outlet, the increase of outflow caused by the more transformation of lake water from solid to liquid, etc. This study can provide some support for plateau grassland protection and ice lake outburst prevention.
青藏高原（TP）是世界上海拔最高的湖泊最集中的地区，其中大部分位于 TP 的内流盆地——羌塘高原（QP）。自 20 世纪 90 年代以来，大量研究报告称 QP 中的湖泊迅速扩张。然而，影响湖泊扩张或收缩的主导因素仍存在争议。在这里，我们根据卫星图像提取了六个时期的 300 个湖泊。结果表明，QP 中 90%的湖泊在扩张，主要位于高原中部；10%的湖泊有收缩趋势，主要位于高原周围和唐古拉山、念青唐古拉山附近，海拔超过 4500 米。同时，我们通过分析降水和冰川的变化来探讨了影响湖泊面积变化的因素。提出了七种不同的驱动模型来解释湖泊变化的原因。湖泊扩张主要是由降水增加和冰川融化引起的，而湖泊收缩的原因则大不相同，如降水和蒸发的变化、湖泊出水口的地质构造、更多的液态水转化为固态水导致的流出量增加等。本研究可为高原草地保护和冰湖溃决防治提供一定的支持。
