Title
Evolution and Controls of Large Glacial Lakes in the Nepal Himalaya.
Abstract
Glacier recession driven by climate change produces glacial lakes, some of which are hazardous. Our study assesses the evolution of three of the most hazardous moraine-dammed proglacial lakes in the Nepal HimalayaImja, Lower Barun, and Thulagi. Imja Lake (up to 150 m deep; 78.4 x 10(6) m(3) volume; surveyed in October 2014) and Lower Barun Lake (205 m maximum observed depth; 112.3 x 10(6) m(3) volume; surveyed in October 2015) are much deeper than previously measured, and their readily drainable volumes are slowly growing. Their surface areas have been increasing at an accelerating pace from a few small supraglacial lakes in the 1950s/1960s to 1.33 km(2) and 1.79 km(2) in 2017, respectively. In contrast, the surface area (0.89 km(2)) and volume of Thulagi lake (76 m maximum observed depth; 36.1 x 10(6) m(3); surveyed in October 2017) has remained almost stable for about two decades. Analyses of changes in the moraine dams of the three lakes using digital elevation models (DEMs) quantifies the degradation of the dams due to the melting of their ice cores and hence their natural lowering rates as well as the potential for glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). We examined the likely future evolution of lake growth and hazard processes associated with lake instability, which suggests faster growth and increased hazard potential at Lower Barun lake.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.3390/rs10050798
REMOTE SENSING
Keywords
Field
DocType
GLOF,glacial lake,Nepal,Himalaya,proglacial lake,moraine-dammed,glacier,remote sensing,High Mountain Asia (HMA)
Physical geography,Glacial lake,Glacial period,Ice core,Glacier,Moraine,Climate change,Remote sensing,Digital elevation model,Geology
Journal
Volume
Issue
Citations 
10
5
2
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.70
2
10