Advances in research on changes and effects of glaciers in Xinjiang mountains

Identifying the changes and impacts of mountain glaciers is of great significance to the healthy and stable development of the mountain-oasis-desert system in Xinjiang. This paper systematically combs through the research results of the physical changes, chemical processes, biological resources, climate response, and ecological effects of Xinjiang glaciers. The results revealed that:① Xinjiang mountain glaciers generally demonstrated a tendency of an accelerated melting, were affected by topography and climate, and there were pronounced regional differences in the glacier changes. ② Aerosols explained the composition and source of surface material on Glacier No.1 at the headwater of the Urumqi River, and findings revealed that the glacier isotope quantified the proportion of glacial meltwater in the runoff of each basin. ③ The effect of glacier changes on the living conditions and spatial distribution of extremophiles is relatively significant, but the comprehensive feedback mechanism between the changes and biological resources is still unclear. ④ The impact of glacier melting on water resources is aggravated from the inception of the inflection point of the glacier meltwater, resulting in the reduction of ecological services and the loss of ice and snow industries. The development of unified glacier extraction standards, broadening of research perspectives, comprehensive and systematic observation of glaciers, improvement in simulation prediction accuracy, improving the technique of disaster warning, and development of countermeasures are the focus of future research on mountain glaciers in Xinjiang.