Kunlun mountains

Abstract

In the Kunlun Mountains, snow cover, glacier, and permafrost are the various reservoirs of water. The seasonal meltwater from this region supplies most important resources for the oasis life along the downstream area in the extremely arid desert basin, but the annual flood can cause loss of human life and property and eco-environment as well. From the point of the hydrological scale, the response to the climate fluctuations from snow and glacier-fed drainage basins with less glacier cover and in lower elevation seems to be more sensitive to the change in precipitation and air temperature than that with more glacier cover at higher elevations. The hydrological regime of these rivers in the Kunlun is developing in an advantageous direction in winter to the local economy and eco-environment of the oases.