An inventory of active rock glaciers in the northern Tien Shan of China compiled using satellite SAR interferometry

Rock glaciers are widespread in the Tien Shan. However, rock glaciers in the Chinese part of the Tien Shan have not been systematically investigated for more than two decades. In this study, we propose a new method that combines SAR interferometry and optical images from Google Earth to map active rock glaciers (ARGs) in the Northern Tien Shan (NTS) of China. We compiled an inventory that includes 261 ARGs and quantitative information about their locations, geomorphic parameters, and down-slope velocities. Our inventory shows that most of the ARGs are moraine-derived (69 %) and facing northeast (56 %). The altitude distribution of ARGs in the western NTS is significantly different from those located in the eastern part. The down-slope velocities of the ARGs vary significantly in space, with a maximum of about 114 cm/yr and a mean of about 37 cm/yr. Using the ARG locations as a proxy for the extent of alpine permafrost, our inventory suggests that the lowest altitudinal limit for the presence of permafrost in the NTS is about 2500-2800 m, a range determined by the lowest ARG in the entire inventory and by a statistics-based estimation. The successful application of the proposed method would facilitate effective and robust efforts to map rock glaciers over mountain ranges globally. And this study provides an important dataset to improve mapping and modeling permafrost occurrence in vast western China.

Data and Resources

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Cite this as

Wang, Xiaowen, Liu, Lin, Zhao, Lin, Wu, Tonghua, Li, Zhongqin, Liu, Guoxiang (2017). Dataset: An inventory of active rock glaciers in the northern Tien Shan of China compiled using satellite SAR interferometry. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.874616

DOI retrieved: 2017

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 30, 2024
Last update November 30, 2024
License CC-BY-NC-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.874616
Author Wang, Xiaowen
Given Name Xiaowen
Family Name Wang
More Authors
Liu, Lin
Zhao, Lin
Wu, Tonghua
Li, Zhongqin
Liu, Guoxiang
Source Creation 2017
Publication Year 2017
Resource Type text/tab-separated-values - filename: Wang-etal_2017
Subject Areas
Name: Ecology

Related Identifiers
Title: Mapping and inventorying active rock glaciers in the northern Tien Shan of China using satellite SAR interferometry
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-997-2017
Type: DOI
Relation: IsSupplementTo
Year: 2017
Source: The Cryosphere
Authors: Wang Xiaowen , Liu Lin , Zhao Lin , Wu Tonghua , Li Zhongqin , Liu Guoxiang .

Title: Mapping and inventorying active rock glaciers in the northern Tien Shan of China, link to shapefile
Identifier: https://store.pangaea.de/Publications/Wang-etal_2017/Wang-etal_2017_Supplement.zip
Type: DOI
Relation: References

Title: Outlines of the mapped rock glaciers, link to Google Earth KMZ file
Identifier: https://store.pangaea.de/Publications/Wang-etal_2017/NTS_ARGs.kmz
Type: DOI
Relation: References