April 3,2020 -- For the first time, a team of 28 Chinese scientists got data on the underwater topography of medium and large-sized lakes in Hoh Xil region in a recent thorough investigation.
Starting from Oct.15th, 2019, the investigation lasted for 32 days during which the scientists covered the whole area of Hoh Xil Natural Reserve.
The scientists, who are from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and renowned universities like Peking University and Nanjing University, did a panoramic scanning of the lakes in the Hoh Xil region and collected the rock cores of many lakes, filling a geographical research gap.
According to the investigation results, compared with the lakes in southern Tibet, the lakes in the region are shallower. In the past several decades, with more rainfall and glacial retreat, the areas of the lakes in the region have obviously grown with some increasing by more than 20%. The salinity of lake water has decreased.
The research team has obtained data about more than 70 lakes with a total area of over 20,000 square kilometers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and will eventually get data of about 100 lakes. Based on the data, the team will predict the lakes’ water volume and its changes on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and analyze their relationship with climate change.
By:Zhou Tianyu
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