Rock glacier inventory for the Tibetan Plateau (2021)

Rock glaciers are periglacial landforms commonly found in high-mountain systems with significant scientific value for inferring the presence of permafrost, understanding mountain hydrology, and assessing climate impacts on high-mountain environments. However, rock glacier inventories remain patchy in many alpine regions, and as a result they are poorly understood for some areas of High Mountain Asia such as the Tibetan Plateau. To address this gap, we compiled a comprehensive inventory of rock glaciers for the Tibetan Plateau using 5-m resolution Planet Basemaps imagery and an innovative deep learning method. This inventory consists of a total of 44 273 rock glaciers, covering approximately 6000 km2, with a mean area of 0.14 km2. They are predominantly situated at elevations ranging from 4000 to 5500 m a.s.l., with a mean of 4729 m a.s.l. They tend to occur on slopes with gradients between 10 and 25°, with a mean of 17.7°. Across the plateau, rock glaciers are widespread in the northwestern and southeastern areas, with dense concentrations in the Western Pamir and Nyainqêntanglha, while they are sparsely distributed in the inner part. Our inventory serves as a benchmark dataset, which is valuable for the studies of mountain permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau.