Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions ›› 2017, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (1): 38-45.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2017.00038

• ARTICLES • Previous Articles    

δ18O,δD and d-excess signatures of ground ice in permafrost in the Beiluhe Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

YuZhong Yang, QingBai Wu, HuiJun Jin, Peng Zhang   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
  • Received:2016-06-18 Revised:2016-10-16 Published:2018-11-23
  • Contact: QingBai Wu, State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. No. 320, West Donggang Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China. Tel:+86-13609390522; E-mail:qbwu@lzb.ac.cn E-mail:QingBai Wu, State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. No. 320, West Donggang Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China. Tel:+86-13609390522; E-mail:qbwu@lzb.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41501071), by the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering (Grant No. SKLFSE201511), by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2016M590984), and by the Chinese Academy of Sci-ences Key Research Program (Grant No. KZZD-EW-13).

Abstract: In this paper, stable isotope (δ18O, δD) investigations were completed in ground ice from a deep borehole in the Beiluhe Basin on northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to unravel the isotopic variations of ground ice and their possible source water. The δ18O and δD of ground ice show distinctive characteristics compared with precipitation and surface water. The near-surface ground ice is highly enriched in heavier isotopes (δ18O and δD), which were gradually depleted from top to bottom along the profile. It is suggestive of different origin and ice formation process. According to isotopic variations, the ice profile was divided into three sections:the near-surface ground ice at 2.5 m is frozen by the active-layer water which suffered evaporation. It is possible that ground ice between 3 and 4.2 m is recharged by the infiltration of snowmelt. From 5 to 6 m, the ground ice show complex origin and formation processes. Isotopic variations from 6 to 11.1 m and 20.55 m indicate different replenishment water. The calculated slope of freezing line (S=6.4) is larger than the experimental value (5.76), and is suggestive of complex origin and formation process of ground ice.

Key words: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, ground ice, stable isotope, source water, ice formation process

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