Magnetostratigraphy of a Loess-Paleosol Sequence from Higher Terrace of the Daduhe River in the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau and Its Geological Significance

The eolian deposits distributed in the river valleys in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau （TP） are very useful in neotectonic and paleoclimatic studies. Firstly, the climate in the eastern margin of the TP is mainly controlled by the Indian summer monsoon, and detailed studies on the loess-paleosol sequences in this region can provide valuable terrestrial evidence of past changes in the Indian summer monsoon. Secondly, the river terraces in the eastern margin of the TP are considered to be a sensitive recorder of neotectonism to reflect the timing and amplitude of the TP uplift.

^(137)Cs Finger Printing Technique for Erosion and Sedimentation Studies

137 Cs is an artificial radionuclide with a half-life of 30.2 years,which was released into the environment as a byproduct of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons during the period of 1950s to 1970s with a peak deposition in 1963.137 Cs fallout was strongly and rapidly adsorbed by soil particles when it deposited on the ground mostly with precipitation.Its following movements will associate with the adsorbed particles.137 Cs tracing technique has been widely used in soil erosion and sedimentation studies since 1980s.This paper introduces the basis of the technique and shows several case studies of assessment of soil erosion rates,investigation of sediment sources and dating of reservoir deposits by using the technique in the Loess Plateau and the Upper Yangtze River Basin.

Linkage between permafrost distribution and river runoff changes across the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau

River runoff in the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau(TP) change significantly in recent decades. However, the mechanisms of the physical processes of permafrost river runoff change remain uncertain across large scale. This study investigated the mainstreams and tributaries of main Arctic and TP rivers dominated by permafrost and assessed the linkage between hydrological regime change and permafrost. The results show that the effects of permafrost on river runoff are highly dependent on the permafrost coverage of a watershed. For the past decades, the majority of the Arctic and TP basins showed increased discharge, while all of the studied basins showed increased baseflow, with faster increasing speed than total discharge.Both total discharge and baseflow annual change rate(ΔQ and ΔBF) increased with permafrost coverage, indicating the increments of streamflow are enhanced with high permafrost coverage. Meanwhile, the annual change of precipitation showed weak connection with total discharge and baseflow change. The high permafrost coverage basins showed high annual maximum/minimum discharge ratio(Qmax/Qmin), while the Qmax/Qminchanged slightly in low permafrost cover basins. Our results highlight the importance of permafrost coverage on streamflow regime change for permafrost basins across the northern hemisphere. Due to these linkage between permafrost extent and runoff regime change and the increasing changes of permafrost, more attention should be paid to the change of hydrological processes in permafrost-underlain basins.

Distribution and transportation of mercury from glacier to lake in the Qiangyong Glacier Basin, southern Tibetan Plateau, China

The Tibetan Plateau is home to the largest aggregate of glaciers outside the Polar Regions and is a source of fresh water to 1.4 billion people. Yet little is known about the transportation and cycling of Hg in high-elevation glacier basins on Tibetan Plateau. In this study, surface snow,glacier melting stream water and lake water samples were collected from the Qiangyong Glacier Basin. The spatiotemporal distribution and transportation of Hg from glacier to lake were investigated. Significant diurnal variations of dissolved Hg（DHg） concentrations were observed in the river water, with low concentrations in the morning（8：00 am–14：00 pm） and high concentrations in the afternoon（16：00 pm–20：00 pm）. The DHg concentrations were exponentially correlated with runoff, which indicated that runoff was the dominant factor affecting DHg concentrations in the river water. Moreover, significant decreases of Hg were observed during transportation from glacier to lake. DHg adsorption onto particulates followed by the sedimentation of particulate-bound Hg（PHg） could be possible as an important Hg removal mechanism during the transportation process. Significant decreases in Hg concentrations were observed downstream of Xiao Qiangyong Lake, which indicated that the high-elevation lake system could significantly affect the distribution and transportation of Hg in the Qiangyong Glacier Basin.

Water Vapor Transport around the Tibetan Plateau and Its Effect on Summer Rainfall over the Yangtze River Valley

The water vapor transport around the Tibetan Plateau（TP） and its effect on the rainfall in the Yangtze River valley（YRV） in summer are investigated by decomposing the moisture transport into rotational and divergent components.Based on the ERA-Interim and PREC/L（Precipitation Reconstruction over Land） data from 1985 to 2014,the vertically integrated features of the two components are examined.The results show that the divergent part dominates the western TP while the rotational part dominates the rest of the TP,implying that moisture may be mostly locally gathered in the western TP but could be advected to/from elsewhere over the rest of the TP.The divergent and rotational moisture fluxes exhibit great temporal variability along the southern periphery of the TP,showing sensitivity of water vapor to the steep topography there.Correlation analysis reveals that it is over the southeastern corner of the TP and to its south that a significant correlation between rotational zonal moisture transport and summer rainfall in the YRV appears,suggesting that the southeastern corner of the TP may serve as a moisture transport bridge between the South Asian（Indian） monsoon and the East Asian monsoon.Further composite analysis indicates that anomalous eastward（westward） zonal water vapor transport from the South Asian monsoon via the southeastern corner of the TP favors more（less） precipitation in the YRV in summer.