Glaciological studies in Asian highland regions

本项目旨在比较研究亚洲高原干湿气候下冰川的分布、条件和变化特征，并研究冰川对水资源的作用。为此，对1987年在西昆仑山和尼泊尔喜马拉雅地区的野外观测结果进行了分析。西昆仑山脉位于西藏西北部，气候干燥，具有典型的大陆性冰川。这些冰川主要是由集中在山区的夏季降雪滋养的。冰川的质量损失主要是由于蒸发，冰川中的融水由于温度较低而重新冻结。降雪对河流径流的贡献被认为很小，因为草坡上的降雪蒸发得很快。这个地区有许多冰盖，它们的流动速度是每年几米，与极地冰盖相似，因为积累和消融很小。进行了近100年环境变化的雪/冰芯分析和第四纪研究。在西昆仑和尼泊尔喜马拉雅地区分别获得了全年的气象资料和长期的气象水文资料。

This Project aimed comparative studies on the characteristics of distribution, condition and variation of glaciers under dry and wet climates in the Asian highland regions, and also the role of glaciers for water resources was studied. For these purposes, results from field observations in the West Kunlun Mountains and the Nepal Himalaya in 1987 were analized.The West Kunlun Mountains lie in the north-western part of Tibet and have typical glaciers of continental-type under the dry climate. These glaciers are nourished mainly by summer snowfall which concentrates in the mountain area. The glaciers lose their mass mainly due to evaporation, and melt water refreezes in the glaciers due to their cold temperature. Contribution of snowfall to river runoff is considered to be samll, since snowfall on the grass slope evaporates soon. There are many ice caps in this area and their flow speed is a few meters per year, similar to that of the polar ice sheet, since accumulation and ablation are small. Snow/ice core analyses on environmental variation of recent 100 years and Quaternary studies were carried out. Meteorological data throughout a year and long-term meteo-hydrological data were obtained in the West Kunlun and the Nepal Himalaya, respectively.