June 15, 2017

West Ganglung Glacier, Tibet Glacier Loses 20% of Length

Posted by Mauri Pelto

Landsat image comparison from 1991, 2001 and 2016 of West Ganglung Glacier, red arrow is the 1991 terminus, yellow arrow the 2016 terminus, green arrow the eastern glacier proglacial terminus lake and purple arrow expanding zone between a former tributary and West Ganglung Glacier

West Ganglung Glacier is on the China-India border 6 km west of Ganglun Grangri Peak meltwater enters the Sultej River and then Mapam Tso.  the glacier terminates in a proglacial lake at 5200 m with its head on the border at 5750 m. This region is part of the Indus Basin, the second China glacier inventory noted a 23% decline in glacier area from 1970 to 2007 (Guo et al 2015) Assessing the sensitivity of the Sutlej River basin to climate change Miller et al (2012) noted that with a warmer climate melt contributions from lower parts are reduced because of decreased snow cover and a shorter melting season.  Significant glacier area loss will also lead to less runoff despite an increase in rate. Singh et al (2012) noted a decline in runoff from the Sutlej basin after 2000, whereas there had been a rise before that. 

Here we examine teh unnamed West Ganglung Glacier change from 1991 to 2016 in a series of Landsat images. In 1991 the glacier terminates at the red arrow, and the lake is 1050 m long. At the glacier just to the east there is a small proglacial lake 200 m long. By 2001 glacier retreat had led to lake expansion to 1400 m long. The proglacial lake at the end of the eastern glacier is now 350 m long. By 2016 the proglacial lake at the terminus had expanded to a length of 1850 m, a retreat of 800 m in 27 years.  The proglacial lake at the terminus of the eastern glacier in 2016 is 650 m long, indicating a retreat of 450 m.  In both case the retreat is a significant loss of overall glacier length, ~20%.  The purple arrow indicates the increasing separation between a tributary and the West Ganglung Glacier glacier.

Google Earth image of West Ganglung Glacier, red arrow is the 1991 terminus, yellow arrow the 2016 terminus, green arrow the eastern glacier proglacil terminus lake and purple arrow expanding zone between a former tributary and West Ganglung Glacier

 

Landsat image from2014 of West Ganglung Glacier, red arrow is the 1991 terminus, yellow arrow the 2016 terminus, and green arrow the eastern glacier proglacial terminus lake.