The Southeastern Tarim Basin, as an important component of the Tarim Basin, plays a critical role in the basin’s water-resource and ecological security due to its glacier changes. Based on the Chinese Glacier Inventory of Xinjiang in 2020 (CGI-XJ2020), this study systematically analyzed the distribution characteristics of glaciers in this region for the baseline year 2020. Together with the First and Second Chinese Glacier Inventories, glacier changes from 1970 to 2020 were examined. The results showed that, in 2020, the southeastern Tarim Basin contained 2,164 glaciers, covering a total area of 2,229.45 km 2 with a glacier volume of 118.52 km 3 . The total uncertainty in glacier area was ±52.26 km 2 , accounting for approximately ±2.34% of the total area. Between 1970 and 2010, the area of selected debris-free glaciers retreated by 67.77 km 2 , corresponding to an average annual glacier area retreat rate of 0.10%/a. During 2010–2020, a further reduction of 11.21 km 2 was observed, with an average annual glacier area retreat rate of 0.07%/a. During the 2010–2020 period, selected debris-covered glaciers retreated at an average annual rate of 0.06 %/a.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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