Study on the Glacier Variation in Bujiagangri Section of the East Tanggula Range since the Little Ice Age

Abstract

Through analyses of the new data of the glacier variation in Bujiagangri Section of the East Tanggula Range since the Little Ice Age (LIA), it was found that the area and volume of the glaciers during the maximum of the LIA, the 15th Century, were 241 46 km 2 and 19 6282 km 3 respectively in the section,which indicates that the glacier area and volume have decreased by 23.7% and 15.1% respectively since then. 184 glaciers with a length of about 0.6 km have been molten away since the LIA. The absolute variation in area and volume of each glacier since the LIA increased and the relative variation decreased with size. The mean area shrinkage, the mean retreat and the mean terminus height rise of the glaciers on the south slopes were larger than that on the north slopes, which implies that the glaciers on the south slopes were more sensitive to climate change than that on the north slopes. Since the LIA, the snow line in this section has risen about 90 m, equivalent to a temperature rise of about 0 6 ℃.