Lakes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are conducive to regional permafrost development

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) possesses the largest areas of permafrost in the mid-and low latitude regions on the earth and many large lakes in the permafrost area. Based on a comprehensive investigation around certain typical lakes, this study found that although the presence of lakes formed different ranges of unfrozen zones in permafrost, the heating effect of lake water on surrounding permafrost is limited to a small extent. The temperature of permafrost around the lake is closely related to the distance to the lake and the ice content of the permafrost. Around lakes are ice-rich permafrost zones and permafrost temperature in this area is significantly lower than that far away from the lake, which indicates that the existence of lakes in the QTP has special effect on the permafrost distribution. Based on the monitoring results, this study presents the typical distribution pattern of the permafrost around large lakes and discusses the reasons for the distribution pattern. Due to the huge area of lakes and the significant impact of lakes on permafrost distribution, it is suggested to re-estimate the total permafrost area and underground ice storage in the QTP.