Chemistry of snow deposited during the summer monsoon and in the winter season at Baishui glacier No. 1, Yulong mountain, China

The glaciers on Yulong mountain (5596 m a.s.l.), China, are the southernmost in mainland Eurasia. The largest is Baishui glacier No. 1. Up to 90% of the annual precipitation there falls in summer, when warm moisture-rich air masses associated with the southwest monsoon reach the area from the Indian Ocean. The winter climate is influenced by air masses with a continental origin and by the southern branch of the westerlies. The snow that accumulates on Baishui glacier No. 1 includes marine aerosols associated with the summer monsoon, and dust brought in winter from central/west Asia, Africa or the Thar Desert area. Studies in May 2006 at two sites, one in the accumulation area (4900 m) and one in the ablation area (4750 m), revealed differences between the ionic composition of the snow that had accumulated in the 2005/06 winter and that of the snow which had been deposited during the preceding summer monsoon. Differences in the chemistry of the summer-accumulated snow at the two sites probably reflected local differences in ablation and elution rates, rather than differences in ion supplies. Differences in the chemistry of the winter-accumulated snow may reflect the influence of up-valley winds, which bring more crustal material to the lower site.

Spatial and temporal variations of oxygen isotopes in snowpacks and glacial runoff in different types of glacial area in western China

In order to improve understanding of spatial and temporal variations of stable isotopes in atmospheric precipitation, snow cover and glacier meltwater in different regions of China, samples were collected for isotopic analysis in four areas: Yulong mountain, Yunnan Himalaya (temperate-glacier area); Samdain Kangsang mountain, Nyainqêntanglha Shan (subpolar-glacier area); the headwater area of the Ürümqi river, Tien Shan (subpolar-glacier area); and Muztag mountain, Pamirs (polar-glacier area). Sampling was undertaken in both summer and winter between 2000 and 2003. The δ18O values show a ‘temperature–altitude effect’ in new winter snow on Yulong mountain, reflecting the condensation and fractionation processes associated with the winter monsoon, but a different, more complex pattern in residual snow deposited during the summer monsoon; this old snow is influenced by the ‘precipitation amount effect’, solar radiation and evaporation, and the water content of the snowpack. The summer precipitation at Samdain Kangsang mountain is associated with the summer monsoon. There is a marked precipitation amount effect during the long passage of the southwest/India monsoon from the distant moisture source to Samdain Kangsang mountain, and the summer precipitation is strongly depleted of the heavy isotope. Above 6000 m, the high radiation flux causes much evaporation from the snow surface. The associated 1 8O enrichment of the snow is reflected in a ‘reverse altitude effect’. The δ18O values in the summer snowpack of the Tien Shan and Muztag mountain decrease with increasing altitude and decreasing air temperature, indicating a temperature–altitude effect. Post-depositional processes cause isotopic changes during the transformation of snow/firn/ice to meltwater; the effects are much stronger at temperate than at polar glaciers. Moreover, changes in the isotopic signal at both temperate and polar glaciers can result from evaporation, sublimation, ablation and drifting.

The irregular pattern of isotopic and ionic signals in the typical monsoon temperate-glacier area, Yulong mountain, China

Sampling was carried out at Baishui glacier No. 1, the largest glacier on Yulong mountain, China, during the summers of 1999 and 2000, to investigate the spatial variations of oxygen isotopes in the atmosphere–glacier–river system. the results confirm that there is an apparent inverse relation between the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation and air-temperature/precipitation amount in this region, with lowerδ18O values when the amount of precipitation and air temperature in summer is higher, due to the influence of intense monsoon climate on the study area. There are marked differences in theδ18O values of winter-accumulated snow, glacial meltwater, summer precipitation and the glacier-fed river water. Spatial and temporal variations of isotopic composition are controlled by varied weather conditions at different altitudes. Isotopic depletion or fractionation occurs during phase changes, snow-to-ice and ice-to-meltwater transformations and runoff processes.Variations of stable isotopes in glacier runoff can indicate variations of sources of supply. Ionic changes occur as a result of meltwater contact with glacier bed materials.