Author
Watson, C. ScottKargel, Jeffrey S.
Shugar, Dan H.
Haritashya, Umesh K.
Schiassi, Enrico
Furfaro, Roberto
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Dept Hydrol & Atmospher SciUniv Arizona, Coll Engn, Dept Syst & Ind Engn
Univ Arizona, Coll Engn, Dept Aerosp & Mech Engn
Issue Date
2020-01-08
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FRONTIERS MEDIA SACitation
Watson CS, Kargel JS, Shugar DH, Haritashya UK, Schiassi E and Furfaro R (2020) Mass Loss From Calving in Himalayan Proglacial Lakes. Front. Earth Sci. 7:342. doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00342Journal
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCERights
Copyright © 2020 Watson, Kargel, Shugar, Haritashya, Schiassi and Furfaro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
The formation and expansion of Himalayan glacial lakes has implications for glacier dynamics, mass balance and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Subaerial and subaqueous calving is an important component of glacier mass loss but they have been difficult to track due to spatiotemporal resolution limitations in remote sensing data and few field observations. In this study, we used near-daily 3 m resolution PlanetScope imagery in conjunction with an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) survey to quantify calving events and derive an empirical area-volume relationship to estimate calved glacier volume from planimetric iceberg areas. A calving event at Thulagi Glacier in 2017 was observed by satellite from before and during the event to nearly complete melting of the icebergs, and was observed in situ midway through the melting period, thus giving insights into the melting processes. In situ measurements of Thulagi Lake's surface and water column indicate that daytime sunlight absorption heats mainly just the top metre of water, but this heat is efficiently mixed downwards through the top tens of metres due to forced convection by wind-blown icebergs; this heat then is retained by the lake and is available to melt the icebergs. Using satellite data, we assess seasonal glacier velocities, lake thermal regime and glacier surface elevation change for Thulagi, Lower Barun and Lhotse Shar glaciers and their associated lakes. The data reveal widely varying trends, likely signifying divergent future evolution. Glacier velocities derived from 1960/70s declassified Corona satellite imagery revealed evidence of glacier deceleration for Thulagi and Lhotse Shar glaciers, but acceleration at Lower Barun Glacier following lake development. We used published modelled ice thickness data to show that upon reaching their maximum extents, Imja, Lower Barun and Thulagi lakes will contain, respectively, about 90 x 10(6), 62 x 10(6) and 5 x 10(6) m(3) of additional water compared to their 2018 volumes. Understanding lake-glacier interactions is essential to predict future glacier mass loss, lake formation and associated hazards.Note
Open access journalISSN
2296-6463Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3389/feart.2019.00342
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © 2020 Watson, Kargel, Shugar, Haritashya, Schiassi and Furfaro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).