Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1): 113-122.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022. 01.12

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Stream component characteristics of the inland river basin of the Tarim Basin under regional climate change

SUN Congjian(),CHEN Wei,WANG Shiyu   

  1. College of Geographical Sciences,Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan 030000, Shanxi, China
  • Received:2021-07-13 Revised:2021-09-17 Online:2022-01-15 Published:2022-01-24

Abstract:

Climate change has a significant impact on the water cycle in the alpine region of Central Asia, which intensifies the disparity between the supply and demand of regional water resources. Understanding the characteristics of runoff components in regional inland rivers is of great importance for water resource management. Based on meteorological data and runoff data from the Tiznafu River Basin in the southwest of the Tarim Basin from the past 60 years (1957-2016), regional climate change and runoff responses were evaluated in this study. Results showed that the temperature of the whole basin and the precipitation in mountainous areas had an obvious upward trend; moreover, the regional warming and humidification trends had become more pronounced since 2010. Given these changes, the runoff of the Tiznafu River had increased significantly in summer and autumn, although there was no significant change in spring. Using isotope samples, we investigated variation in isotopes in different water sources and analyzed the contribution of different water sources based on isotope hydrograph separation. Melt water, groundwater, and rainfall contributed 17%, 40%, and 43% of the annual stream flow, respectively. There were obvious differences in runoff components in different seasons and the contribution of precipitation to runoff was more substantial in summer. As a typical alpine inland river in the southwest of the Tarim River Basin, regional climate change, especially changes in precipitation, will greatly affect the utilization of the Tizinafu River and its resources in the future.

Key words: Tiznafu River Basin, climate change, runoff, isotope, hydrograph separation, Tarim Basin