Glacial lake outburst floods as drivers of fluvial erosion in the Himalaya
- Himalayan rivers are frequently hit by catastrophic floods that are caused by the failure of glacial lake and landslide dams; however, the dynamics and long-term impacts of such floods remain poorly understood. We present a comprehensive set of observations that capture the July 2016 glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in the Bhotekoshi/Sunkoshi River of Nepal. Seismic records of the flood provide new insights into GLOF mechanics and their ability to mobilize large boulders that otherwise prevent channel erosion. Because of this boulder mobilization, GLOF impacts far exceed those of the annual summer monsoon, and GLOFs may dominate fluvial erosion and channel-hillslope coupling many tens of kilometers downstream of glaciated areas. Long-term valley evolution in these regions may therefore be driven by GLOF frequency and magnitude, rather than by precipitation.
| Author details: | Kristen L. CookORCiD, Christoff AndermannORCiDGND, Florent GimbertORCiD, Basanta Raj Adhikari, Niels HoviusORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat4981 |
| ISSN: | 0036-8075 |
| ISSN: | 1095-9203 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30287655 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Science |
| Publisher: | American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science |
| Place of publishing: | Washington |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2018/10/05 |
| Publication year: | 2018 |
| Release date: | 2021/09/13 |
| Volume: | 362 |
| Issue: | 6410 |
| Number of pages: | 5 |
| First page: | 53 |
| Last Page: | 57 |
| Funding institution: | GFZ HART grant; Helmholtz Postdoc fellowship; ANRFrench National Research Agency (ANR) [17-CE01-0008-01] |
| Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
| DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Publishing method: | Open Access / Bronze Open-Access |
