Häusler, H., Ng, F. orcid.org/0000-0001-6352-0351, Kopecny, A. et al. (1 more author) (2016) Remote-sensing-based analysis of the 1996 surge of Northern Inylchek Glacier, central Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan. Geomorphology, 273. pp. 292-307. ISSN 0169-555X
Abstract
The evolution of Northern Inylchek Glacier and its proglacial lake - Upper Lake Merzbacher - during its 1996 surge and the surrounding decades is analyzed with remote sensing imagery. Overall retreat of the glacier from 1943 to 1996 enlarged the lake to 4 km long and ≈ 100 m deep. The surge in 1996 initiated between 12 September and 7 October and advanced the glacier by 3.7 km to override most of Upper Lake Merzbacher. The surge phase probably ended in December 1996 and involved mean flow velocities across the lower trunk of the glacier that reached 50 m d− 1 over a 32-day period. Water displaced by the surge from Upper Lake Merzbacher, totalling 1.5 × 108 m3 in volume, accelerated filling of Lower Lake Merzbacher downvalley and helped trigger this marginal ice-dammed lake to outburst in a jökulhlaup around late November/early December. The characteristics and duration of the surge render it as similar to temperate glacier surges elsewhere. It may have been facilitated by low basal friction caused by water-saturated sediments in the upper lake bed. Furthermore, bathymetric measurements show that the surge evacuated much sediment into the upper lake, causing its depth to reduce from 20 to 30 m in 1996 to 8 m by 2005 and 2 m by 2011; the corresponding deposition rates imply glacier-catchment specific mean sediment yields of 1.4 to 3.4 × 103 Mg km− 2 a− 1 in the years after the surge. Our study documents novel interactions within a cascade system of glaciers and lakes that exhibits surging and outburst-flood behavior.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Geomorphology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Glacier surge; remote sensing; Lower Lake Merzbacher; Upper Lake Merzbacher; bathymetry; glacier lake outburst flood |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 30 Aug 2016 08:53 |
Last Modified: | 21 Aug 2017 06:32 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.08.021 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.08.021 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104037 |