From a Glacier's Perspective

February 8, 2017

Lumding Glacier Rapid Retreat, Nepal 1992-2016

Landsat comparison of Lumding Glacier terminating in Lumding Tsho. Red arrow on each Landsat image indicates 1992 terminus and yellow arrow 2016 terminus location. Lumding Glacier, Nepal terminates in Lumding Tsho, a proglacial lake, in Dudh Khosi Valley in the Mount Everest region of Nepal. This lake poses a hazard for a glacier lake outburst flood in the Dudh Khosi valley. The lake expansion results from retreat of the Lumding Glacier. International …

February 3, 2017

Hinku Nup, Nepal Downwasting Lake Development

Hinku Nup Glacier in November 2016 Sentinel 2 image. Yellow arrows indicate three supraglacial lakes that have formed. Hinku Nup is a valley glacier in the Dudh Khosi basin in the Mount Everest region of Nepal. The glacier is heavily debris covered in its lowest 4 km which is a low slope section extending from 5100-4900 m. In 1992 Landsat images there are only small supraglacial lakes, less than 100 …

November 7, 2016

Thulagi Glacier, Nepal Retreat and GLOF Potential

Thulagi Glacier change in Landsat images from 1991 and 2016. Red arrow is 1991 terminus, yellow arrow 2016 terminus and purple arrow increasingly exposed bedrock rib amidst icefall. Written With Prajjwal Panday: @prajjwalpanday Thulagi Glacier terminates in a lake referred to both as Thulagi and Dona Lake. ICIMOD (2011) has identified this as a potential threat for a glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) and has conducted extensive fieldwork there. Thulagi Lake …

September 6, 2016

West Hongu Glacier Retreat-Ablation Extending into January, Nepal

Landsat comparison of West Hongu Glacier snowline, purple dots from October 2015 to January 2016. The red arrow indicates the 1993 active terminus location and the yellow arrow the 2015 active terminus location. West Hongu Glacier is a small glacier in the Dudh Khosi Basin of Nepal. The glacier drains the east side of Ama Dablam Peak. Shea et al (2015) noted that glaciers in the Dudh Khosi Basin of Nepal lost 16% …

December 23, 2015

Kanchenjunga Glacier, Nepal Volume Losses

Figure 10-16. Kanchenjunga Glacier (K) from 1991 to 2015, green arrows indicate locations of enhanced supraglacial lakes since 1991. Purple arrow indicates areas of thinning at higher elevations in the region. Location 2 is the main junction area. Kanchenjunga Glacier is the main glacier draining west from Kanchenjunga Peak, also listed on maps as Kumbukarni. The glacier is similar to Zemu Glacier flowing east from the same mountain into Sikkim, …

June 16, 2014

Nobuk Glacier Retreat, Tamor Basin, Nepal

At the headwaters of the Tamor Basin in eastern Nepal is an unnamed glacier that terminates in an expanding glacial lake. The glacier is referred to as “Nobuk” Glacier here in reference to the nearby named peak on the map. The glacier is upstream of a Chheche Pokhari a lake formed by a glacier outburst flood in 1980. Two arms of the glacier both avalanche fed from the steep border …

May 18, 2012

West Barun Glacier Retreat Lake Expansion, Nepal

The West Barun Glacier flows southwest from Baruntse Peak at 7100 meters ending at Barun Khola (lake) at 4500 meters. Comparison of images from 1992, 2003 and 2009 indicate the retreat of the glacier and expansion of the lake. In the early 1990’s the lake was observed to be 1100 meters long with an area of 0.66 square kilometers (ICIMOD, 2010). In 2003 the lake was 1500 meters long. In …

March 18, 2012

Himalaya Glacier Index

Himalaya-Pamir-Hindu Kush-Tien Shan-Quilian-Karakoram Range Glacier Change Below is a list of individual glaciers in the Himalaya and high mountains of Central Asia that illustrate what is happening glacier by glacier. In addition to the individual sample glaciers we tie the individual glaciers to the large scale changes of approximately 10,000 glaciers that have been examined in repeat satellite image inventories. In the high mountains of Central Asia detailed glacier mapping …