Subglacial Meltwater Recharge in the Dongkemadi River Basin, Yangtze River Source Region

Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau play an important role in the local hydrological cycle. However, there are only few studies on groundwater in the alpine basins in the Tibetan Plateau which considered the effects of glaciers. Glaciers are extensively distributed in the Dongkemadi River Basin, which is a representative alpine basin in the Yangtze River source region. This study focuses on building a numerical groundwater flow model with glaciations using HydroGeoSphere (HGS) to simulate subglacial meltwater recharge to groundwater in the Dongkemadi River Basin in response to future climate changes. Effects of hydraulic conductivity, precipitation, and temperature on subglacial meltwater recharge to groundwater were discussed. Glacier changes in the future 50 years were predicted under different climate change scenarios. Results show that: (1) the average thickness of the glacier will change significantly; (2) the simulated rate of annual mean subglacial meltwater recharge to groundwater is 4.58 mm, which accounts for 6.33% of total groundwater recharge; and (3) hydraulic conductivity has the largest influence on subglacial meltwater recharge to groundwater, followed by temperature and precipitation. Results of this study are also important to sustainable water resource usage in the Yangtze River source region.