Proglacial Lakes in High Mountain Environments

Otto, Jan‐Christoph

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-94184-4_14

Cited by 36 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Glacial lakes are indicators of climate change in the alpine environment formed due to climate-induced glacier dynamics (Otto, 2019). There are various classification schemes to classify the glacial lakes relating to glacial and non-glacial processes, their location, damming materials and structures (ICIMOD, 2011;Maharjan et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussion Glacial Lake Inventorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…dam types into ice-dammed, moraine-dammed and rockdammed (Supplementary Table S7) from visual interpretation in Google Earth following the classification scheme described by Otto (2019). Here, the glacial lakes with a steep dam (DFSG >10°) were classified as the highest alternative, and F4 has been adjusted accordingly (Table 3).…”

Section: Glof Susceptibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Himalaya is characterized by a dense distribution of glacial lakes (Zhang et al, 2015;Maharjan et al, 2018), and they are rapidly expanding due to glaciers wasting in response to global climate change (Zhang et al, 2015;Nie et al, 2017). Such glacial lakes are located on the surface of glaciers (supraglacial lakes or ponds), behind the terminal or lateral moraines (proglacial lakes), and other lakes which are disconnected, but lie in the periphery to the glacier and are fed by the glacier ice and snowmelt (Salerno et al, 2012;Otto, 2019). These glacial lakes display characteristic differences in terms of formation, dam structure, lifespan, expansion, emergence, disappearance and impact upon burst (Richardson and Reynolds, 2000;Mertes et al, 2017;Nie et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Susceptibility Using Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework in Mahalangur Himalaya

et al. 2021

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Ongoing recession of glaciers in the Himalaya in response to global climate change has far-reaching impacts on the formation and expansion of glacial lakes. The subsequent glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a significant threat to lives and livelihoods as they can cause catastrophic damage up to hundreds of kilometres downstream. Previous studies have reported the rapid expansion of glacial lakes and several notable destructive past GLOF events in the Mahalangur Himalaya, suggesting a necessity of timely and updated GLOF susceptibility assessment. Here, an updated inventory of glacial lakes across the Mahalangur Himalaya is developed based on 10-m Sentinel-2 satellite data from 2018. Additionally, the GLOF susceptibilities of glacial lakes (≥0.045 km2) are evaluated using a multi-criteria-based assessment framework where six key factors are selected and analyzed. Weight for each factor was assigned from the analytical hierarchy process. Glacial lakes are classified into very low, low, medium, high, and very high GLOF susceptibility classes depending upon their susceptibility index based on analysis of three historical GLOF events in the study area. The result shows the existence of 345 glacial lakes (>0.001 km2) with a total area of 18.80 ± 1.35 km2 across the region in 2018. Furthermore, out of the 64 glacial lakes (≥0.045 km2) assessed, seven were identified with very high GLOF susceptibility. We underline that pronounced glacier-lake interaction will likely increase the GLOF susceptibility. Regular monitoring and more detailed fieldworks for these highly susceptible glacial lakes are necessary. This will benefit in early warning and disaster risk reduction of downstream communities.

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Section: Discussion Glacial Lake Inventorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Glof Susceptibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Susceptibility Using Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework in Mahalangur Himalaya

et al. 2021

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“…In the last decade, massive glacier retreat, especially of large valley glaciers, has resulted in an increased formation of glacial lakes [57]. Due to natural hazards related to glacial lakes such as glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), monitoring these lakes has become a crucial task in cryosphere research [58,59].…”

Section: Terrestrial Laserscanningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Status of Earth Observation Techniques in Monitoring High Mountain Environments at the Example of Pasterze Glacier, Austria: Data, Methods, Accuracies, Processes, and Scales

et al. 2020

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Earth observation offers a variety of techniques for monitoring and characterizing geomorphic processes in high mountain environments. Terrestrial laserscanning and unmanned aerial vehicles provide very high resolution data with high accuracy. Automatic cameras have become a valuable source of information—mostly in a qualitative manner—in recent years. The availability of satellite data with very high revisiting time has gained momentum through the European Space Agency’s Sentinel missions, offering new application potential for Earth observation. This paper reviews the status of recent techniques such as terrestrial laserscanning, remote sensed imagery, and synthetic aperture radar in monitoring high mountain environments with a particular focus on the impact of new platforms such as Sentinel-1 and -2 as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. The study area comprises the high mountain glacial environment at the Pasterze Glacier, Austria. The area is characterized by a highly dynamic geomorphological evolution and by being subject to intensive scientific research as well as long-term monitoring. We primarily evaluate landform classification and process characterization for: (i) the proglacial lake; (ii) icebergs; (iii) the glacier river; (iv) valley-bottom processes; (v) slope processes; and (vi) rock wall processes. We focus on assessing the potential of every single method both in spatial and temporal resolution in characterizing different geomorphic processes. Examples of the individual techniques are evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively in the context of: (i) morphometric analysis; (ii) applicability in high alpine regions; and (iii) comparability of the methods among themselves. The final frame of this article includes considerations on scale dependent process detectability and characterization potentials of these Earth observation methods, along with strengths and limitations in applying these methods in high alpine regions.

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“…In suitable topographic conditions, proglacial lakes may form, including ice-contact lakes (physically attached to an ice margin) and ice-marginal lakes (lakes detached from or immediately beyond a contemporary ice margin) (Benn and Evans, 2010;Carrivick and Tweed, 2013). Such lakes have increased in number, size and volume around the world due to climate warming-induced glacier melt (Carrivick and Tweed, 2013;Otto, 2019). for instance studied the formation and distribution of proglacial lakes since the Little Ice Age (LIA) in Austria revealing a continuous acceleration in the number of glacier-related lakes particularly since the turn of the 21st century.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buoyant calving and ice-contact lake evolution at Pasterze Glacier (Austria) in the period 1998–2019

Kellerer‐Pirklbauer¹,

Avian²,

Benn³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Rapid growth of proglacial lakes in the current warming climate can pose significant outburst flood hazards, increase rates of ice mass loss, and alter the dynamic state of glaciers. We studied the nature and rate of proglacial lake evolution at Pasterze Glacier (Austria) in the period 1998–2019 using different remote sensing (photogrammetry, laserscanning) and fieldwork-based (GPS, time-lapse photography, geoelectrical resistivity tomography/ERT, and bathymetry) data. Glacier thinning below the spillway level and glacier recession caused flooding of the glacier, initially forming a glacier-lateral to supraglacial lake with subaerial and subaquatic debris-covered dead-ice bodies. The observed lake size increase in 1998–2019 followed an exponential curve (1998: 1900 m2; 2019: 304,000 m2). ERT data from 2015 to 2019 revealed widespread existence of massive dead-ice bodies exceeding 25 m in thickness near the lake shore. Several large-scale and rapidly occurring buoyant calving events were detected in the 48 m deep basin by time-lapse photography, indicating that buoyant calving is a crucial process for fast lake expansion. We identified a sequence of processes: glacier recession into a basin and glacier thinning below spillway-level; glacio-fluvial sedimentation in the glacial-proglacial transition zone covering dead ice; initial formation and accelerating enlargement of a glacier-lateral to supraglacial lake by ablation of glacier ice and debris-covered dead ice forming thermokarst features; increase in hydrostatic disequilibrium leading to destabilization of ice at the lake bottom or at the near-shore causing fracturing, tilting, disintegration or emergence of new icebergs due to buoyant calving; and gradual melting of icebergs along with iceberg capsizing events. We conclude that buoyant calving, previously not reported from the European Alps, might play an important role at alpine glaciers in the future as many glaciers are expected to recede into valley or cirque overdeepenings.

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Proglacial Lakes in High Mountain Environments

Cited by 36 publications

References 90 publications

Evaluation of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Susceptibility Using Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework in Mahalangur Himalaya

Evaluation of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Susceptibility Using Multi-Criteria Assessment Framework in Mahalangur Himalaya

The Status of Earth Observation Techniques in Monitoring High Mountain Environments at the Example of Pasterze Glacier, Austria: Data, Methods, Accuracies, Processes, and Scales

Buoyant calving and ice-contact lake evolution at Pasterze Glacier (Austria) in the period 1998–2019

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