Glacier extent and volume change (1966∼2000) on the Su-lo Mountain in northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Abstract

The topographic maps of 1:50, 000 scales, aerial photographs taken in 1966, one Landsat image taken in 1999, and SRTM data from 2000 were used to quantify the losses in area and volume of the glaciers on the Su-lo Mountain, in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China in the past 30 years. The total glacier area decreased from 492.9 km2 in 1966 to 458.2 km2 in 1999. The volume loss of the studied glaciers reached 1.4 km3 from 1966 to 2000. This agrees with documented changes in other mountain glaciers of the whole Tibetan Plateau.