Changing periglacial and aeolian landscapes

Drylands, glacier/snow cover and permafrost are essential components of the Earth Surface System, yet they are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Understanding hydrological, geomorphic and ecological processes responses to past and recent climatic changes in cold and arid regions has become an important topic for climate change research. Little attention, however, has been given to the rapidly changing climate and the associated implications on complex earth surface processes and landforms. This may have led to an underestimation or overestimation of the rapid changes in the semi-arid, arid, glacier and periglacial environment and their impacts on the intricately interconnected and closely coupled hydroclimatic, eco-hydrologic, bio-geochemical and climate-induced hazard systems.

This special issue focuses on establishing the linkages between climate change and hydrological, geomorphic and ecological processes with a particular focus on the new knowledge coming from long-term field observations and advanced mathematical models, as well as multi-source remote sensing data. We welcome submissions related to new experimental methods or scientific findings regarding land surface erosion, weathering processes, processes of land degradation, fluvial and lacustrine processes, periglacial processes, geological hazards and eco-environmental, bio-geochemical and eco-hydrological changes in cold and arid regions.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Interactions of hydrological, geomorphic and ecological processes
• Drylands, glacial and periglacial processes and landforms   
• Changing drylands and their ecological and hydrological impacts
• Changing glaciers, lake and rive ice, and snow cover and their ecological and hydrological impacts
• Changing permafrost and their ecological and hydrological impacts
• Advanced models and numerical simulation of coupled atmosphere-hydrology-geomorphology-ecology processes
• Novel methods and tools for investigating and evaluating the geomorphic, hydrological and ecologic processes
• Impacts of climate change on Earth surface processes

Important deadlines:

Submission deadline: 31 August 2024

Publication date: prior to 31 December 2024

Submission instructions:

Please read the journal Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online; please select Climate change and Earth surface processes in cold and arid regions.

Guest Editors:

Professor Qi Feng, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Emails: qifeng@lzb.ac.cn;

Professor Huijun Jin, Northeast Forestry University, China. Emails: hjjin@nefu.edu.cn;

Professor Anyuan Li, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Emails: anyuanli1013@lzb.ac.cn.