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Factors controlling the accelerated expansion of Imja Lake, Mount Everest region, Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2016

Sudeep Thakuri ,
Franco Salerno ,
Tobias Bolch ,
Nicolas Guyennon  and
Gianni Tartari
Sudeep Thakuri*
Affiliation:
National Research Council, Water Research Institute (IRSA-CNR), Brugherio, Italy Department of Earth Sciences ‘Ardito Desio’, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Franco Salerno
Affiliation:
National Research Council, Water Research Institute (IRSA-CNR), Brugherio, Italy Ev-K2-CNR Association, Bergamo, Italy
Tobias Bolch
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Institute for Cartography, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Nicolas Guyennon
Affiliation:
National Research Council, Water Research Institute (IRSA-CNR), Brugherio, Italy
Gianni Tartari
Affiliation:
National Research Council, Water Research Institute (IRSA-CNR), Brugherio, Italy Ev-K2-CNR Association, Bergamo, Italy
*
Correspondence: Sudeep Thakuri <thakuri@irsa.cnr.it>
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Abstract

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This study explores the link between area increase of Imja Tsho (Lake) and changes of Imja Glacier (area ~25km2) under the influence of climate change using multitemporal satellite imagery and local climate data. Between 1962 and 2013, Imja Lake expanded from 0.03±0.01 to 1.35±0.05 km2 at a rate of 0.026±0.001 km2 a-1. The mean glacier-wide flow velocity was 37±30ma-1 during 1992–93 and 23±15ma-1 during 2013–14, indicating a decreasing velocity. A mean elevation change of –1.29±0.71ma-1 was observed over the lower part of the glacier in the period 2001–14, with a rate of –1.06±0.63ma-1 in 2001–08 and –1.56±0.80ma-1 in 2008–14. We conclude that the decrease in flow velocity is mainly associated with reduced accumulation due to a decrease in precipitation during the last few decades. Furthermore, glacier ablation has increased due to increasing maximum temperatures during the post-monsoon months. Decreased glacier flow velocities and increased mass losses induce the formation and subsequent expansion of glacial lakes under favourable topographic conditions.

Keywords

climate changeglacier flowglacier hazardsmountain glaciersremote sensing
Type
Paper
Information
Annals of Glaciology , Volume 57 , Issue 71 , March 2016 , pp. 245 - 257
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016

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