Mass Elevation Effect and Its Contribution to the Altitude of Snow line in the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Areas
Han F. ; Zhang B. P. ; Yao Y. H. ; Zhu Y. H. ; Pang Y.
2011
英文摘要In exploring geographical distribution of mountain altitudinal belts (e.g., snowline, timber line, etc.), many unitary or dibasic fitting models have been developed to depict the relationship between altitudinal belts' elevation and longitude or latitude, or both. However, most of these models involve small scales and could not be applied to other regions, while those established for the northern hemisphere or the whole globe, are of very low precision. The reason is that these models neglect one of the most important factors controlling the distribution of altitudinal belts-mass elevation effect (massenerhebungseffect, short as MEE in the following text). This concept (MEE) was introduced more than 100 years ago by A. de Quervain to account for the observed tendency for temperature-related parameters such as tree line and snowline to occur at higher elevations in the central Alps than on their outer margins. Although it has been widely observed and its effect on the elevation of mountain vegetation belts recognized, this phenomenon has not been quantitatively studied. We compiled 143 snowline descriptions from literature covering the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas. Snow line elevation is related to longitude, latitude, and mountain base elevation (MBE), to construct a multivariate linear regression equation. These three factors could explain 83.5% of snowline elevation's variation in the Tibetan plateau and its surrounding areas. Longitude, latitude, and MBE (representing MEE to some extent) contribute 16.14%, 51.64%, and 32.22%, respectively, to the variability of snowline elevation. North of latitude 32 degrees N, the three factors' contribution amounts to 18.72%, 44.27%, and 37.01%, respectively; to the south, their contribution is 28.12%, 15.37%, and 56.51%, respectively. A non-linear model was also constructed, but it only enhances the ability slightly in fitting of snowline's distribution. Our analysis reveals that latitude and MBE are significant controlling factors of snowline elevation. Longitude, which stands for precipitation to a great extent, has limited impact on snowline's distribution. MEE should be further studied, or directly quantified so that it can be adequately incorporated into the development of spatial models for altitudinal belts, whereby the precision of such models could be greatly enhanced.
出处Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research
43
2
207-212
收录类别SCI
语种英语
ISSN号1523-0430
内容类型SCI/SSCI论文
源URL[http://ir.igsnrr.ac.cn/handle/311030/23898]  
专题地理科学与资源研究所_历年回溯文献
推荐引用方式
GB/T 7714
Han F.,Zhang B. P.,Yao Y. H.,et al. Mass Elevation Effect and Its Contribution to the Altitude of Snow line in the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Areas. 2011.
个性服务
查看访问统计
相关权益政策
暂无数据
收藏/分享
所有评论 (0)
暂无评论
 

除非特别说明,本系统中所有内容都受版权保护,并保留所有权利。


©版权所有 ©2017 CSpace - Powered by CSpace