BASIC FEATURES OF SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE LIMITS OF PERMAFROST IN CHINA

In this paper,according to the correlation between the permafrost and climatic elements,combined with distribution of the modern permafrost in China,the annual mean temperature,annual temperature range and heights of the limit of permafrost have been calculated and studied on the basis of the meteorological data obtained from 104 weather stations in China.The altitudes of spatial distribution of the limits of permafrost are obviously controlled by changes in altitude and latitude,and inoreose from north to south.The limit of permafrost in eastern China rises from <1200 m in Northeast China to (5700 m) in the Haikou area,Hainan;that in northwestern China rises from 2600 m in the Altay Mountains to 4500 m in the Kunlun Mountains,being 1400-800 m higher than that at the same latitudes in eastern China.The heights of the limit of permafrost are essentially maintained at 4500-5000 m on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Lastly,the relations between the climatic limit of permafrost and modern climatic snowline are discussed.