Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evolution And Controls Of Large Glacial Lakes In The Nepal Himalaya, Umesh K. Haritashya, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Dan H. Shugar, Gregory J. Leonard, Katherine Strattman, C. Scott Watson, David Shean, Stephan Harrison, Kyle T. Mandli, Dhananjay Regmi

Umesh K. Haritashya

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 Himalaya—Imja, Lower Barun, and Thulagi. Imja Lake (up to 150 m deep; 78.4 x 10⁶ m³ volume; surveyed in October 2014) and Lower Barun Lake (205 m maximum observed depth; 112.3 x 10⁶ m³ 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 …