Thermal state of the active layer and permafrost along the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Railway from 2006 to 2010

In this study, we investigated changes in active layer thickness (ALT) and permafrost temperatures at different depths using data from the permafrost monitoring network along the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Railway (QXR) since 2005. Among these sites, mean ALT is ~3.1 m, with a range of ~1.1 to 5.9 m. From 2006 through 2010, ALT has increased at a rate of ~6.3 cm a −1 . The mean rate of permafrost temperature rise at the depth of 6.0 m is ~0.02 °C a −1 , estimated by linear regression using 5 yr of data, and the mean rate of mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) rise at a depth of zero amplitude is ~0.012 °C a −1 . Changes for colder permafrost (MAGT −1.0 °C). This is consistent with results observed in the Arctic and subarctic.

[1]  Guodong Cheng,et al.  The Qinghai–Tibet Railroad: A milestone project and its environmental impact , 2008 .

[2]  Qingbai Wu,et al.  Recent permafrost warming on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau , 2008 .

[3]  R. Armstrong,et al.  Distribution of seasonally and perennially frozen ground in the Northern Hemisphere , 2002 .

[4]  Xin Li,et al.  Permafrost and climatic change in China , 2000 .

[5]  C. Guodong,et al.  The ‘thermal semi‐conductor’ effect of crushed rocks , 2007 .

[6]  Guodong Cheng,et al.  A roadbed cooling approach for the construction of Qinghai–Tibet Railway , 2005 .

[7]  Lin Zhao,et al.  Thawing and freezing processes of active layer in Wudaoliang region of Tibetan Plateau , 2000 .

[8]  Jin Hui-jun,et al.  Permafrost Degradation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its Environmental Impacts , 2000 .

[9]  Lin Zhao,et al.  Thermal state of permafrost and active layer in Central Asia during the international polar year , 2010 .

[10]  Daqing Yang,et al.  Changes of climate and seasonally frozen ground over the past 30 years in Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau, China , 2004 .

[11]  Xiao-dong Liu,et al.  Climatic warming in the Tibetan Plateau during recent decades , 2000 .

[12]  Zhang Jianming,et al.  Thermal regime in the embankment of Qinghai-Tibetan Highway in permafrost regions , 2002 .

[13]  Liu Yongzhi,et al.  Ground temperature monitoring and its recent change in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau , 2004 .

[14]  Zhuotong Nan,et al.  Prediction of permafrost distribution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the next 50 and 100 years , 2005 .

[15]  Qingbai Wu,et al.  Changes in active layer thickness over the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau from 1995 to 2007 , 2010 .

[16]  G. Cheng,et al.  Responses of permafrost to climate change and their environmental significance, Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau , 2007 .

[17]  R. Barry,et al.  Statistics and characteristics of permafrost and ground-ice distribution in the Northern Hemisphere , 1999 .

[18]  Zhongqiong Zhang,et al.  Long-term thermal effect of asphalt pavement on permafrost under an embankment , 2010 .