Spatial Distributions of the Cirque lakes over the Tibetan Plateau and Their Climatological and Environmental Significances

The physical property of a glacier are mostly controlled by the climate conditions under which it grows. The different type glaciers have their different dynamic processes and environmental impacts. The erosion capability of a warm-based glacier is much stronger than that of a cold-based glacier, and usually a cirque can form near and/or on the ridge of a mountain when a warm-based glacier is melt away. Therefore, we can use the distribution of the cirque lakes in the different areas to understand the glacier types and the climate conditions. By using remote sensing images, we discerned the cirque lakes in the different mountains over the Tibetan Plateau, and found that there exists a large number of cirque lakes in the southern Tibetan Plateau, but few in the northern. This implies that the glaciers located in the southern Tibetan Plateau are mostly belonged to the warm-based glacier. It was also found that the northern limit of the spatial distribution of the cirque lakes is consistent with the location of the Asian monsoon boundary over the Tibetan Plateau. This suggests that the warm-based glaciers are mostly formed in the area where monsoon can reach and affect.