Recent ground thermo-hydrological changes in a southern Tibetan endorheic catchment and implications for lake level changes

Abstract mm yr - 1), followed by glacier runoff (280 mm yr - 1) and land runoff (180 mm yr - 1). However, altogether these components do not offset evaporation (860 mm yr - 1). ∘ C per decade 2 m deep), increasing the availability of liquid water in the ground and the duration of seasonal thaw. Correlations with annual values suggest that both phenomena promote evaporation and runoff. Yet, ground warming drives a strong increase in subsurface runoff so that the runoff/+ runoff) ratio increases over time. This increase likely contributed to stabilizing the lake level decrease after 2010. Summer evaporation is an important energy sink, and we find active-layer deepening only where evaporation is limited. The presence of permafrost is found to promote evaporation at the expense of runoff, consistently with recent studies suggesting that a shallow active layer maintains higher water contents close to the surface. However, this relationship seems to be climate dependent, and we show that a colder and wetter climate produces the opposite effect. Although the present study was performed at the catchment scale, we suggest that this ambivalent influence of permafrost may help to understand the contrasting lake level variations observed between the south and north of the QTP, opening new perspectives for future investigations.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Recent ground thermo-hydrological changes in a southern Tibetan endorheic catchment and implications for lake level changes ; volume:27 ; number:24 ; year:2023 ; pages:4409-4436 ; extent:28 ; Hydrology and earth system sciences ; 27, Heft 24 (2023), 4409-4436 (gesamt 28)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Martin, Léo C. P. ; Westermann, Sebastian ; Magni, Michele ; Brun, Fanny ; Fiddes, Joel ; Lei, Yanbin ; Kraaijenbrink, Philip ; Mathys, Tamara ; Langer, Moritz ; Allen, Simon ; Immerzeel, Walter W.

Further information

• DOI: 10.5194/hess-27-4409-2023
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023122103402706263211
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:34 AM CEST