This study analyzes the changes in glacier zones and snow composition of Glacier No.1 in the Tianshan Mountains of China since 1961,and their possible relations with climate.It is found that precipitation dominated the snow composition and that air temperature and precipitation controlled the distribution of glacier zones,but interannual change in precipitation had a relatively large effect on glacier zones and snow composition during 1963–1981 (P10) and 1963–1989 (P11).However,during 1982–2007 (P20) and 1990–2007 (P21),the air temperature rise (0.57°C/10 a for P20,0.76°C/10 a for P21) was more influential than the precipitation increase (51.3 mm/10 a for P20),and air temperature was principally responsible for the evolution of glacier zones and snow composition most probably resulting from recent climate warming.
Diurnal minor and trace elements in glacial outflow water draining the Qiyi Glacier and associated hydrological controls as well as the filtration effects on water chemistry were examined. Results show that major ions, Li, Sr, and Ba are exported predominately as mobile monovalent or divalent ions and are controlled by hydrological variations over the diurnal cycle exhibiting an inverse concentration with discharge, suggesting that Li, Sr, and Ba can be used as tracers in subglacial hydrological investigations. Conversely, other elements (e.g. Fe, Al, and Cr) exhibit variations that are not strongly correlated with the discharge reflecting the physicochemical controls. The non-filtered operation appears not to strongly influence Sr and Ba, but has an effect on some elements such as Fe, Al, V, Ti, and Co, indicating that these changed elements are transported in particulate forms and thus their concentrations are highly dependent on particulate numbers in solutions. This implies that the immediate filtration after sampling is essential in hydrochemical studies at Alpine glacial basins due to subsequent mineral dissolution.
LI XiangYingQIN DaHeJING ZheFanLI YueFangWANG NingLian
