Quaternary Glacier Development Characteristics And Environmental Evolution In Haba Snow Mountain, Northwestern Yunnan Province

The Haba Snow Mountain, which is in the middle north section of HengduanMountain range, separated form Yulong Mountains by Jinsha River and is intensivelyinfluenced by the southwestern monsoon. For the study on quaternary ice age of HabaSnow Mountain，Predecessors’ research data is less. So the study of the Haba SnowMountain Quaternary glacial relics and the restoration of the ancient glacial history isvery important, not only can be used as a comparison of around the mountain glacialseries to provide a scientific basis to confirm the around the mountain ice series, butalso has important significance on glacier development mechanisms which climateand tectonic coupling relationship.Field investigations show that the Quaternaryerosion and sediment geomorphology are preserved above3100m in the main peak ofthe Haba Snow Mountains and its surrounding areas. Quaternary glacier erosive anddepositional landscapes mainly distribute along both sides of the northwest ridge ofHaba Snow Mountains. Using relative geomorphological method, compared to theglacial series of the Yulong Snow Mountain, the Haba glacial series is initiallydivided into three periods, the penultimate glaciation, the early stage of the last glacialcycle and the last glacial maximum (LGM).The glacier type here belongs to valleyglacier. Among the three glacial periods, the extent of the penultimate glaciation waslarger than the other two periods. In Haba river ravine, ancient glacier extend to6～7m, with the end elevation of about3100m and the snow line of3675m. During theearly stage of the last glacial cycle, the glaciers developed in Haba river are2～3kmshorter than the penultimate glaciation, with the end elevation of about3500m and thesnow line of4000m, while the glaciers during LGM are1～2km shorter than the earlystage of the last glacialcycle, with the end elevation of about3900m and the snow lineof4200m. According to the relationship between the summer, June, July and Augustthe annual precipitation and the atmospheric temperature at the equilibrium linealtitude, the present ELA in Haba Snow Mountain was5100±100m. Analysis of magnetization by Haba Snow Mountain showed that the magneticsusceptibility value is very high.It is mainly related to parent rocks of Haba SnowMountain, but also can indirectly reflect the Haba Snow Mountain ancient climatewas humid which is in conformity with the rich water vapor of Haba SnowMountain.Element geochemical analysis results show that the penultimate glaciationice age climate was humid, which is in conformity with the ancient climate of HabaSnow Mountain.Compared with the around mountains’ ice secies and analysis of glaciation’scauses of Haba Snow Mountain showed that Haba Snow Mountain glaciersdevelopment depends on the altitude of the mountain,which is the result of tectonicand climate affect together.