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Evidence for Holocene megafloods down the tsangpo River gorge, Southeastern Tibet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David R. Montgomery ,
Bernard Hallet ,
Liu Yuping ,
Noah Finnegan ,
Alison Anders ,
Alan Gillespie  and
Harvey M. Greenberg
David R. Montgomery*
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, United States
Bernard Hallet
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, United States
Liu Yuping
Affiliation:
Chengdu Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Chengdu, China
Noah Finnegan
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, United States
Alison Anders
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, United States
Alan Gillespie
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, United States
Harvey M. Greenberg
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, United States
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Earth and Space Sciences Quaternary Research Center, Box 351360, Seattle, WA 98195-1310. E-mail address:dave@ess.washington.edu(D.R. Montgomery).
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Abstract

Lacustrine and alluvial terraces and sediments record the extent of at least two Holocene glacially dammed lakes immediately upstream of the Tsangpo River gorge at the eastern syntaxis of the Himalaya. The larger lake covered 2835 km2, with a maximum depth of 680 m and contained an estimated 832 km3 of water; the smaller lake contained an estimated 80 km3 of water. Radiocarbon dating of wood and charcoal yielded conventional radiocarbon ages of 8860 ± 40 and 9870 ± 50 14C yr B.P. for the higher set of lake terraces, and 1220 ± 40 and 1660 ± 40 14C yr B.P. for sediments from the lower terraces. Catastrophic failure of the glacial dams that impounded the lakes would have released outburst floods down the gorge of the Tsangpo River with estimated peak discharges of up to 1 to 5 X 106 m3 s–1. The erosive potential represented by the unit stream power calculated for the head of the gorge during such a catastrophic lake breakout indicates that post-glacial megafloods down the Tsangpo River were likely among the most erosive events in recent Earth history.

Keywords

Outburst floodsTsangpo RiverHimalayaNamche BarwaPaleolakes
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , September 2004 , pp. 201 - 207
Copyright
University of Washington

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