PI: Tandong Yao, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Period：2015-2018
Funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China

This project collects 1) precipitation and meteorological records at coastal sites in eastern, western and southern India; 2) precipitation and snow surface sample from the South slope of the Himalayas; and 3) weekly river samples from the Ganges River. The collected data will help clarify isotopic similarities and differences between water bodies on the north and the south slopes of the Himalayas, which can then reveal their respective water cycle processes as part of the efforts to quantify their respective contribution to rivers downstream. The project will also study typical glaciers on both slopes for continuous mass balance observation. Joint field investigation are to be carried out for an assessment report based on in-situ observation and expedition. Based on the record of the Tibet Plateau ice cores, the lake core records in China and India, and the deep-sea planktonic foraminifera records in India, the paleoclimate in the Third Pole region can be examined to reveal how it has evolved and will change amid climate change.