How does soil water content influence permafrost evolution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under climate warming?

Ji, Fang1,2; Fan, Linfeng2; Kuang, Xingxing2; Li, Xin3; Cao, Bin3; Cheng, Guodong4,5; Yao, Yingying6; Zheng, Chunmiao2,7

2022-06-01

10.1088/1748-9326/ac6c9a

Environmental Research Letters   影响因子和分区

1748-9326

The active layer thickness (ALT) in permafrost regions regulates hydrological cycles, water sustainability, and ecosystem functions in the cryosphere and is extremely sensitive to climate change. Previous studies often focused on the impacts of rising temperature on the ALT, while the roles of soil water content and soil granularity have rarely been investigated. Here, we incorporate alterations of soil water contents in soil thermal properties across various soil granularities and assess spatiotemporal ALT dynamics on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). The regional average ALT on the QTP is projected to be nearly 4 m by 2100. Our results indicate that soil wetting decelerates the active layer thickening in response to warming, while latent heat exerts stronger control on ALTs than thermal conductivity does. Under similar warming conditions, active layers thicken faster in coarse soils than in fine soils. An important ramification of this study is that neglecting soil wetting may cause overestimations of active layer thickening on the QTP.

permafrost active layer thickness soil water content Qinghai-Tibet Plateau climate change

SCI ; EI

英语

通讯

National Natural Science Foundation of China[41861124003,92047202,41807288]

Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Environmental Sciences ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

WOS:000797664100001

IOP Publishing Ltd

20222212168088

Permafrost ; Soil moisture ; Thermal conductivity ; Wetting

Atmospheric Properties:443.1 ; Soils and Soil Mechanics:483.1 ; Thermodynamics:641.1

Web of Science

1.Harbin Inst Technol, Sch Environm, Harbin, Peoples R China
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, State Environm Protect Key Lab Integrated Surface, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
3.Chinese Acad Sci, Natl Tibetan Plateau Data Ctr, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, State Key Lab Tibetan Plateau Earth Syst Sci LATP, Beijing, Peoples R China
4.Chinese Acad Sci, CAS Ctr Excellence Tibetan Plateau Earth Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China
5.Shanghai Normal Univ, Inst Urban Study, Shanghai, Peoples R China
6.Xi An Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Human Settlements & Civil Engn, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Xian, Peoples R China
7.EIT Inst Adv Study, Ningbo, Peoples R China

Ji, Fang,Fan, Linfeng,Kuang, Xingxing,et al. How does soil water content influence permafrost evolution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under climate warming?[J]. Environmental Research Letters,2022,17(6).

Ji, Fang.,Fan, Linfeng.,Kuang, Xingxing.,Li, Xin.,Cao, Bin.,...&Zheng, Chunmiao.(2022).How does soil water content influence permafrost evolution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under climate warming?.Environmental Research Letters,17(6).

Ji, Fang,et al."How does soil water content influence permafrost evolution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under climate warming?".Environmental Research Letters 17.6(2022).