Document Type

Article

Editor

G. Young

Publication Title

Snow and Glacier Hydrology (Proceedings of the Kathmandu Symposium)

Publisher

International Association of Hydrological Sciences

Rights and Access Note

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Publication Date

1993

Publisher location

Oxfordshire, UK

First Page

385

Last Page

402

Issue Number

IAHS Pub. No. 218

Place of conference

Kathmandu, Napal

Conference Sponsor

International Association of Hydrological Sciences

Abstract/ Summary

Short-term (6 months to 17 years) glaciochemical records have been collected from several glacier basins in the mountains of central Asia. The spatial distribution of snow chemistry in central Asia is controlled by the influx of dust from the large expanse of arid and semiarid regions in central Asia. Glaciers in the Northern and Western Tibetan Plateau show elevated concentrations and elevated annual fluxes of calcium, sodium, chloride, sulphate and nitrate due to the influx of desert dust from nearby arid and semi-arid regions. Glaciers in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau show lower concentrations and lower annual fluxes of major ions due to longer transport distances of dust from the arid and semi-arid regions of Western China. Snow from the Karakoram and Western Himalaya show ion concentrations similar to those in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau, but much higher annual fluxes suggesting that much of the aerosol and moisture transported with the westerly jet stream is removed as it ascends the Southwest margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Snow from the Southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas shows very low concentrations and very low annual fluxes of major ions, indicating that this region is relatively free from the chemical influence of Asian dust. The glaciochemical data suggest that glaciers which are removed from large source areas of mineral aerosol, such as those in the Himalaya, the Karakoram, and the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau, are the ones most likely to contain longer-term glaciochemical records which detail annual to decadal variation in the strength of the Asian monsoon and long-range transport of Asian dust.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Wake, C.P. & Mayewski, P.A., 1993, The spatial variation of Asian dust and marine aerosol contributions to glaciochemical signals in central Asia. In G. Young (Ed.), International Symposium on Snow and Glacier Hydrology, Kathmandu, Nepal. IAHS Pub. No. 218, 385-402.

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© Copyright 1993 International Association of Hydrological Sciences

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