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Arid Land Geography ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (10): 1651-1661.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.176

• The Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Lake change and genetic analysis in east Kunlun Kumukuli Basin from 1986 to 2023

ZHANG Xiaolong1(), CHEN Yaning2(), ZHU Chenggang2, FU Aihong2, LI Yupeng2, SUN Huilan1   

  1. 1. College of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, Xinjiang, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2024-03-18 Revised:2024-05-13 Online:2024-10-25 Published:2024-11-27
  • Contact: CHEN Yaning E-mail:1542819750@scu.edu.ge;chenyn@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Conducting a systematic study on lake area changes and their underlying causes in the east Kunlun Kumukuli Basin holds significant practical importance. This research enhances our understanding of climate change patterns and the regional water cycle in the east Kunlun Mountains, addressing critical water shortage issues in southern Xinjiang, China. Utilizing the Google Earth Engine (GEE) remote sensing cloud computing platform, this study extracted water bodies from remote sensing images of the east Kunlun Kumukuli Basin between 1986 and 2023. It analyzed lake area changes and their influencing factors, incorporating meteorological data, glacier activity, and land use patterns. The findings reveal several key trends from 1986 to 2023. (1) The number and area of lakes in the east Kunlun and Kumukuli regions increased significantly, with the total lake area expanding from 1196.47 km2 in 1986 to 2190.43 km2 in 2023, representing an average annual increase of 26.16 km2. (2) Ayakumu Lake, the largest in the region, experienced a 50.17% increase in area, while the number of lakes larger than 1 km2 grew from six in 1986 to nine in 2023. (3) The primary driver behind this lake expansion is moderate precipitation, which accounts for 63.80% of the increase. Although air temperature plays a role in glacier melt, its contribution to lake area growth is less significant than that of precipitation.

Key words: lake area, temperature, precipitation, Kumukuli Basin