Gang Hu

Late Glacial glacier-climate modeling in two valleys on the eastern slope of Samdainkangsang Peak, Nyaiqentanggulha Mountains

Well-preserved Late Glacial moraines in the Barenduo and Yuqiongqu valleys on the eastern slope of the Samdainkangsang Peak present an opportunity to reconstruct glacier extents and examine the character of the climate during the Late Glacial stage in the Nyaiqentanggulha Mountains. This study employs a coupled mass-balance and ice-flow model to reconstruct the glacier extents in the two valleys and assess the magnitudes of temperature and precipitation change during the Late Glacial period. Model results indicate that during the Late Glacial, the Barenduo valley contained an ice volume of 1.67×108 m3, with the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) being ~5500 m asl; and the Yuqiongqu valley had an ice volume of 5.56×108 m3, with the ELA being ~5470 m asl. A climate scenario, temperature depression of 2.6–2.8°C and 60–70%, percent of modern (1981–2010) precipitation, can sustain both of the Late Glacial glacier extents in the two valleys. A 50% increase or decrease from modern precipitation would have been coupled with the respective Late Glacial temperature depressions of 1.6 and 3.0°C in the Barenduo valley, and 2.1 and 2.8°C in the Yuqiongqu valley.