Author(s): Shao Jun; Xu Changjiang; Guo Wei; Bu Hui
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Runoff; Water resources; Ice core records; Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; Source region of the Yangtze River
Abstract: The runoff conditions of rivers in the source region of the Yangtze River have changed significantly in recent decades. The study of the characteristics of runoff changes in the Yangtze River source area under the background of global warming is of great practical significance for understanding the hydrological effects caused by climate change. The measured hydro-meteorological data from 1960-2019 at the Tuotuo River hydrological and meteorological stations were used to analyze the evolution of runoff and its relationship with meteorological factors such as precipitation, temperature, and evaporation. The δ18O records and ice core accumulation of five ice cores from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were used to analyze the relationship between δ18O records and ice core accumulation among different ice cores, and the correlation between ice core records and the runoff of the Tuotuo River. The 10-year moving average runoff series during 1900-1960 at the Tuotuo River was reconstructed, and the runoff variation over 100 years was preliminarily analyzed. The results revealed that the annual runoff of the Tuotuo River had a significant increase trend around 2002, and the increase in glacier and snowmelt water caused by the sharp rise in temperature was one of the important reasons for the sharp increase in flow. The reconstruction of Tuotuo River runoff series since 1900 showed that the Yangtze River source area had experienced several alternating wet-dry changes, and the runoff change pattern basically coincided with the three sudden climate change time points on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results of the study provided a reference for revealing the evolution of river runoff patterns and its hydrological response in the source region of the Yangtze River under climate change conditions.
Year: 2024