Prediction and assessment of multiple glacial lake outburst floods scenario in Pho Chu River basin, Bhutan

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabindra Osti ◽  
Shinji Egashira ◽  
Yognath Adikari
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods

scholarly journals Simulation and Assessment of Future Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in the Poiqu River Basin, Central Himalayas

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1376
Author(s):  
Taigang Zhang ◽  
Weicai Wang ◽  
Tanguang Gao ◽  
Baosheng An
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Central Himalayas ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a typical glacier-related hazard in high mountain regions. In recent decades, glacial lakes in the Himalayas have expanded rapidly due to climate warming and glacial retreat. Some of these lakes are unstable, and may suddenly burst under different triggering factors, thus draining large amounts of water and impacting downstream social and economic development. Glacial lakes in the Poiqu River basin, Central Himalayas, have attracted great attention since GLOFs originating there could have a transboundary impact on both China and Nepal, as occurred during the Cirenmaco GLOF in 1981 and the Gongbatongshaco GLOF in 2016. Based on previous studies of this basin, we selected seven very high-risk moraine-dammed lakes (Gangxico, Galongco, Jialongco, Cirenmaco, Taraco, Beihu, and Cawuqudenco) to simulate GLOF propagation at different drainage percentage scenarios (i.e., 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%), and to conduct hazard assessment. The results show that, when any glacial lake is drained completely or partly, most of the floods will enter Nepal after raging in China, and will continue to cause damage. In summary, 57.5 km of roads, 754 buildings, 3.3 km2 of farmland, and 25 bridges are at risk of damage due to GLOFs. The potentially inundated area within the Chinese part of the Poiqu River basin exceeds 45 km2. Due to the destructive impacts of GLOFs on downstream areas, appropriate and effective measures should be implemented to adapt to GLOF risk. We finally present a paradigm for conducting hazard assessment and risk management. It uses only freely available data and thus is easy to apply.

scholarly journals Glacial Lake Changes and Identification of Potentially Dangerous Glacial Lakes in the Yi’ong Zangbo River Basin

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 538
Author(s):  
Hongyu Duan ◽  
Xiaojun Yao ◽  
Dahong Zhang ◽  
Miaomiao Qi ◽  
Juan Liu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Huge Number ◽  
First Order ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacier Melting ◽  
First Order Method ◽  
Very High

The southeastern Tibetan Plateau, where monsoonal temperate glaciers are most developed, has a huge number of glacial lakes. Based on Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) images, 192 glacial lakes with a total area of 45.73 ± 6.18 km2 in 2016 were delineated in the Yi’ong Zangbo River Basin. Glacial lakes with areas of less than 0.1 km2 accounted for 81.77% of the total number, and glacial lakes located above 4500 m elevation comprised 83.33%. Dramatic glacier melting caused by climate warming has occurred, resulting in the formation and expansion of glacial lakes and the increase of potential glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) risk. From 1970 to 2016, the total area of glaciers in the basin has decreased by 35.39%, whereas the number and total area of glacial lakes have, respectively, increased by 86 and 1.59 km2. In that time, 110 new glacial lakes emerged, whereas 24 of the original lakes disappeared. The newly formed lakes have a smaller mean area but higher mean elevation than the lakes that disappeared. Based on five indicators, a first-order method was used to identify glacial lakes that pose potential threats. We identified 10 lakes with very high, 7 with high, 31 with medium, and 19 with low GLOF susceptibility, out of 67 moraine-dammed glacial lakes with areas larger than 0.02 km2. Understanding the behavior of glaciers and glacial lakes is a vital aspect of GLOFs disaster management, and the monitoring of glacial lakes should be strengthened.

scholarly journals Glacier-Related Hazards Along the International Karakoram Highway: Status and Future Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongpeng Gao ◽  
Shiyin Liu ◽  
Miaomiao Qi ◽  
Fuming Xie ◽  
Kunpeng Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Thermal State ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Drainage Channels ◽  
Karakoram Highway ◽  
Remote Sensing Techniques ◽  
Hunza River

The China–Pakistan international Karakoram Highway passes through the core area of the “Karakoram Anomaly,” whose glaciers have maintained or increased their mass during a period when most glaciers worldwide have receded. We synthesized the literature and used remote-sensing techniques to review the types, distribution, characteristics, causes and frequency of major glacial hazards along the Karakoram Highway. We found that the glacier-related hazards could be divided into direct and indirect hazards, including glacier surges, glacial lake outburst floods, and glacial floods, which are concentrated in East Pamir and the Hunza River Basin. In the past 100 years, hazards from glaciers surges and glacial floods only occurred once and twice, respectively, which appear suddenly, with the hazard-causing process being short-lived and occurring mainly in the summer. Glacial lake outburst floods mainly occur in the spring and summer in the Hunza River Basin. Among these, ice-dammed lakes have the highest frequency of flooding, their formation and outbursts being closely related to the sudden advancement of surge-type glaciers. Under the background of global climate warming, we speculate that the glacier surge cycle may shorten and the frequency of the formation and outbursts in the glacial lakes may increase. In the future, we should combine models and new field observations to simulate, and deepen our understanding of the physical mechanisms of different glacier-related hazards. In particular, on-site monitoring should be carried out, to include the evolution of glaciers subglacial hydrological systems, the thermal state at the base of the glaciers, and the opening and closing of drainage channels at the base of the ice dams.

Mercury exports from a High-Arctic river basin in Northeast Greenland (74°N) largely controlled by glacial lake outburst floods

2015 ◽  
Vol 514 ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Søndergaard ◽  
Mikkel Tamstorf ◽  
Bo Elberling ◽  
Martin M. Larsen ◽  
Maria Rask Mylius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods

scholarly journals Changes in Glaciers and Glacial Lakes and the Identification of Dangerous Glacial Lakes in the Pumqu River Basin, Xizang (Tibet)

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Che ◽  
Lin Xiao ◽  
Yuei-An Liou
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Increase Rate ◽  
Increasing Temperature

Latest satellite images have been utilized to update the inventories of glaciers and glacial lakes in the Pumqu river basin, Xizang (Tibet), in the study. Compared to the inventories in 1970s, the areas of glaciers are reduced by 19.05% while the areas of glacial lakes are increased by 26.76%. The magnitudes of glacier retreat rate and glacial lake increase rate during the period of 2001–2013 are more significant than those for the period of the 1970s–2001. The accelerated changes in areas of the glaciers and glacial lakes, as well as the increasing temperature and rising variability of precipitation, have resulted in an increased risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Pumqu river basin. Integrated criteria were established to identify potentially dangerous glacial lakes based on a bibliometric analysis method. It is found, in total, 19 glacial lakes were identified as dangerous. Such finding suggests that there is an immediate need to conduct field surveys not only to validate the findings, but also to acquire information for further use in order to assure the welfare of the humans.

Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in Upper Nainchu River Basin, Tibet

1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chujun Chen ◽  
Tiefeng Wang ◽  
Zhi Zhang ◽  
Zhiqiang Liu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods

scholarly journals Glacial Lake Outburst Floods Simulation in the Yi’ong Zangbo River Basin Based on One-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Wang ◽  
Hongyu Duan ◽  
Na Liu ◽  
Zhishui Du ◽  
Pan Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Hydrodynamic Model ◽  
Peak Discharge ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
The One

Abstract Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a serious potential threat to the safety of life and property in downstream areas. In this study, moraine-dammed glacial lakes in the Yi’ong Zangbo River basin were recognized based on Landsat ETM+/TM/OLI images in 2000 and 2019. And the GLOFs for the Jionglaco, the largest glacial lake in this basin, was simulated using the one-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The results show that the total number and area of moraine-dammed glacial lakes in this basin increased by 10 (10.52%) and 5.49 km2 (48.24%) from 2000 to 2019, in which the area of the Jionglaco increased by 3.22 km2. The peak discharge at the breach outlet for five scenarios with different combinations of breach width (80 m and 120 m), depth (2.5 m and 5 m) and flood time (1.5 h and 3 h) are 489 m3/s, 1327.43 m3/s, 444.32 m3/s, 617.47 m3/s and 1570.61 m3/s. With the addition of baseflow in river, the peak discharge at bridge site 15 138.93 km from Jionglaco are 1040.89 m3/s, 1724.00 m3/s, 1024.85 m3/s, 1162.25 m3/s and 1990.52 m3/s. The combination of baseflow in river and the GLOFs discharge results in the increasing peak discharge in the further downstream region. However, the arrival of peak discharge in downstream areas is delayed, which increases the chances of people escaping. This study aims to provide some references for the prevention of GLOFs in this region.

Debris Flows Resulting From Glacial-Lake Outburst Floods in Tibet, China

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 508-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Cui ◽  
Chao Dang ◽  
Zunlan Cheng ◽  
Kevin M. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods
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