Understanding soil organic carbon (SOC) distribution and its environmental controls in permafrost regions is essential for achieving carbon neutrality and mitigating climate change. This study examines the spatial pattern of SOC and its drivers in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River (HAYR), northeastern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (QXP), a region highly susceptible to permafrost degradation. Field investigations at topsoils of 86 sites over three summers (2021-2023) provided data on SOC, vegetation structure, and soil properties. Moreover, the spatial distribution of key permafrost parameters was simulated: temperature at the top of permafrost (TTOP), active layer thickness (ALT), and maximum seasonal freezing depth (MSFD) using the TTOP model and Stefan Equation. Results reveal a distinct latitudinal SOC gradient (high south, low north), primarily mediated by vegetation structure, soil properties, and permafrost parameters. Vegetation coverage and above-ground biomass showed positive correlation with SOC, while soil bulk density (SBD) exhibited a negative correlation. Climate warming trends resulted in increased ALT and TTOP. Random Forest analysis identified SBD as the most important predictor of SOC variability, which explains 38.20% of the variance, followed by ALT and vegetation coverage. These findings likely enhance the understanding of carbon storage controls in vulnerable alpine permafrost ecosystems and provide insights to mitigate carbon release under climate change.

Permafrost is mostly warm and thermally unstable on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), particularly in some marginal areas, thereby being susceptible to degrade or even disappear under climate warming. The degradation of permafrost consequently leads to changes in hydrological cycles associated with seasonal freeze-thaw processes. In this study, we investigated seasonal hydrothermal processes of near-surface permafrost layers and their responses to rain events at two warm permafrost sites in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River, northeastern TP. Results demonstrated that water content in shallow active layers changed with infiltration of rainwater, whereas kept stable in the perennially frozen layer, which serves as an aquitard due to low hydraulic conductivity or even imperviousness. Accordingly, the supra-permafrost water acts as a seasonal aquifer in the thawing period and as a seasonal aquitard in the freezing period. Seasonal freeze-thaw processes in association with rain events correlate well with the recharge and discharge of the supra-permafrost water. Super-heavy precipitation (44 mm occurred on 2 July 2015) caused a sharp increase in soil water content and dramatic rises in soil temperatures by 0.3-0.5 degrees C at shallow depths and advancement thawing of the active layer by half a month. However, more summer precipitation amount tends to reduce the seasonal amplitude of soil temperatures, decrease mean annual soil temperatures and thawing indices and thin active layers. High salinity results in the long remaining of a large amount of unfrozen water around the bottom of the active layer. We conclude that extremely warm permafrost with T-ZAR (the temperature at the depth of zero annual amplitude) > 0.5 degrees C is likely percolated under heavy and super-heavy precipitation events, while hydrothermal processes around the permafrost table likely present three stages concerning TZAR of 0 degrees C.

This article attempts to predict the spatiotemporal changes of permafrost in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River (HAYR) on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Southwest China by using field monitoring and numerical models. Permafrost in the HAYR is categorized into four types: low- and high-ice-content high-plain permafrost and low- and high-ice-content alpine permafrost. According to these permafrost types, changes in permafrost temperature were calculated by coupling a geometric model with the soil thermal conduction model. Based on the calculation results, this paper evaluates the changes of permafrost in the HAYR over the past 50 years and predicts the change trends of permafrost in the HAYR under the scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 for possible climate change in 2050 and 2010 from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report. The results show that (a) in the process of permafrost degradation, the same permafrost type at different degradation stages results in different modes and rates of increasing temperature. The response of permafrost to climate change differs in various degradation stages of permafrost; (b) from 1972 to 2012, the areal extent of permafrost degradation was 1,056 km(2), resulting from a sharp air temperature increase after the 1980s. By 2050, the areal extent of permafrost degradation into seasonal frost is similar under the three scenarios of climate change. The areal extent of permafrost degradation is 2,224, 2,347, and 2,559 km(2) or 7.5%, 7.9%, and 8.6% of the total area in the HAYR, respectively. In RCP2.6, the areal extent of permafrost degradation into seasonal frost by 2100 would be approximately 3,500 km(2) greater than that by 2050. In RCP6.0, the areal extent of permafrost degradation by 2100 would be 10,000 km(2) or 32.9% of the total area in the HAYR. In RCP8.5, the area of permafrost degradation by 2100 would be 18,492 km(2) or 62.2% of the total area in the HAYR; (c) the active layer thickness (ALT) in the HAYR would increase significantly. The average of the ALT was 1.51 m by 1972 and 2.01 m by 2012, respectively. Under the RCP2.6, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5 scenarios, the basin-wide average of ALT would be 2.21, 2.40, and 3.08 m by 2050 and 2.78, 4.07, and 4.39 m by 2100, respectively.