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Most glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau ( TP) are not closely monitored for mass balance (MB) due to their inaccessibility, which makes it difficult to better understand the dynamics of glacial advancement or retreat. Surface energy budget, MB, and the resulting melt runoff were calculated for Zhadang glacier (5,710 m above sea level) of the central TP. Energy balance was calculated on 30-m square grids for the summers of 2007 and 2008. On average, net radiation dominated the total energy source (66%) while the residual was supplied by sensible heat flux. More than 67% of the energy sink was available for melting on the glacier. Thus, less than 33% of the total energy was consumed by latent heat flux. A large and a slightly negative summer MB were calculated for the 2007 and 2008 summers, respectively. The high sensitivity of the glacier to air temperature may indicate that the lower than average seasonal temperature was more important than the increased precipitation for the slightly negative MB in the summer of 2008. Comparisons of glacial melt runoff indicated that rainfall and snowmelt were the dominant contribution to total runoff in the glacierized basin and the ice melting is also very important. Glacial melt calculation provides a basis for quantifying glacial melt-runoff contribution to the river streamflow in the TP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precipitation rate dominates meteoric 10Be in soils rather than soil dynamics, and the relation of the two is indicated in a binomial way with positive correlation in low precipitation regions (<1200 mm per year) and negative in high precipitation regions (>1200 mm per year). • 10Be concentrations in topsoil are influenced by precipitation and soil dynamics. • Precipitation shows more control on 10Be using PCA and correlation analysis. • 10Be concentrations-precipitation shows different trends in dry and humid regions. • Underlying surface affects 10Be without changing 10Be-precipitation relationships. Meteoric beryllium-10 (10Be) is commonly used as a proxy of landscape dynamics (erosion and sedimentation rates) and soil development. Soil represents the first-stage reservoir of meteoric 10Be, and variability in the concentration of the isotope in soils may be affected by soil properties and atmospheric deposition. Although many investigations have targeted this issue, there are still problems in estimating the atmospheric input of the isotope in different soil environments. Here, we used 10Be data measured in soils distributed across China to explore the potential influence of meteorological and pedological conditions on the isotope concentration and related applications. In addition, to determine the mechanisms controlling 10Be concentrations in topsoil on a regional scale, the soil samples were sub-divided into 18 different catchments according to fluvial systems. The results indicated that there were significant negative correlations between precipitation and the soil 10Be concentration in high-precipitation regions (>1200 mm·y−1) and significant positive correlations for soils in low precipitation regions (<1200 mm·y−1). The data also revealed that precipitation is the most important variable controlling the 10Be concentration in soils of China when compared with the effects of soil properties such as grain size, mineralogy, pH, and cation exchange capacity. Land use and soil erosion may have limited impacts on the distribution of 10Be in soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]