结合国际冻土研究的热点问题和青藏高原脆弱生态环境可持续发展的需求,针对多年冻土退化过程中趋于加剧的热喀斯特现象,及其因融穿冻土、造成区域地下水位的改变而诱发的生态环境影响,在国家自然科学基金重点项目支持下开展“青藏高原多年冻土区热喀斯特湖环境及水文学效应”研究。项目主要通过遥感分析及野外调查,分析气候变化和工程活动影响下的青藏工程走廊内热喀斯湖时空分布规律,评价其生态环境效应;选取热喀斯湖广泛发育区域,调查其发育条件、规模和几何分布特点,揭示典型热喀斯特湖影响因素变化、水热状况等,通过水文学、同位素示踪试验等阐明热喀斯特湖与地下水之间的转换关系;结合抽水疏干试验进行热喀斯特湖对区域地下水位影响分析,并通过数值模型及模拟,依热喀斯特湖发育不同阶段、规模,分析其对区域冻土、水文条件及生态环境的影响。研究成果将有助于区域性冻土生态环境演化准确评价及趋势预测,以及深入理解诸如江河源多年冻土区水文状况演化影响因素,及其相应的生态环境响应机制。

Thermokarst lake is the most visible morphologic landscape developing during the process of permafrost degradation, and it is still an international hot topic in permafrost research. The climate warming, and the consequent degradation of the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau aggravate thermokarst lake development. The permafrost is normally considered as an aquiclude, and the permafrost degradation, especially when the permafrost is completely thawed by a thermokarst lake, might influence regional ground water. Therefore, a research program focusing on environmental and hydrological effects of thermokarst lakes in permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was started and supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The work proposed by the application includes: To analysis the spatial and temporal distribution rule of thermokarst lakes in the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) under the climate change and engineering activities, and to evaluate the ecological environment effects through remote sensing and field investigation; to reveal the main factors influencing a typical thermokarst lake and its hydrothermal condition, and to elucidate the conversion relationship between the thermokarst lake and the groundwater with hydrological and isotope tracer tests; to make an analysis of the influences of different lake stage and size on regional permafrost, hydrological conditions and ecological environment through numerical simulation and statistical modelling, considering the relationships between the thermokarst lake and the ground water level. The research results will help to accurately assess regional permafrost ecological environment evolution and trend prediction, and to reasonably understand the impact factors of the permafrost hydrological evolution and its response mechanism to the ecological environment in the river source regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In this paper, the research status analysis, the main research contents, research objectives and prospects were introduced so as to provide some references for related researchers and engineers.