Abstract: Based on the existing research of domestic and foreign scholars, this study focused on the response of seasonal frozen soil to climate change in Taxkorgan River Valley of Xinjiang by using climate diagnostic analysis. The characteristics and trends of seasonal frozen soil in this area were revealed during 1960-2015. The facts of seasonal frozen soil degradation are proved by the objective data in this region. What's more, this paper also predicted the state of seasonal frozen soil when this change trend lasted until 2050. Characteristic parameters including the beginning date of seasonal frozen soil, the ending date of seasonal frozen soil, the number of annual frozen days, the accumulate thickness of the frozen soil, the maximum depth of frozen soil, and so on, and the analyzing methods including climate tendency rate, abrupt climate change and climate change trend were used for analyzing the variation characteristics of seasonal frozen soil in the inter annual and the decade years. The results show as follows:(1)under the background of global warming, the temperature change showed an upward trend in Taxkorgan River Valley of Xinjiang during 1960-2015, it was a strong warming trend, of which the heating rate were 0.03 ℃·a^-1, 0.29℃·(10 a)^-1, 0.74 ℃·(30 a)^-1; (2)during the period of 1960-2015, the seasonal frozen soil in the area was degraded, showing that the beginning date of seasonal frozen soil was postponed, the ending date of seasonal frozen soil was advanced, the number of annual frozen days was reduced, the accumulate thickness of seasonal frozen soil was reduced, and the maximum depth of seasonal frozen soil was reduced; (3) during the period of 1960-2015, the degradation trend of seasonal frozen soil in this region had strong sustainability; ( 4)during the period of 1960-2015, the specific response of seasonal frozen soil to global warming in Taxkorgan River Valley of Xinjiang showed the state of degradation; (5)assume that the climate warming rate(GT) was the annual 0.034-0.046 centigrade, under the background of climate warming, the beginning date of seasonal frozen soil would be postponed for 12-15 days, the number of annual frozen days would reduce 21-27 days, the accumulate thickness of seasonal frozen soil would reduce by 36.3%-46.7% in 2050(comparison with 2000).

Key words: Taxkorgan, seasonal frozen soil, climate change, Xinjiang