Heterogeneous expansion of end-moraine dammed lakes in the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya ranges of Pakistan during 2001–2013

Journal of Mountain Science - Tập 12 - Trang 1113-1124 - 2015
Arshad Ashraf1, Rozina Naz1, Muhammad Bilal Iqbal1
1Climate Change, Alternate Energy and Water Resources Institute (CAEWRI), National Agricultural Research Center, Chakshahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan

Tóm tắt

Global climate change during the twentieth century had a significant impact on the glaciers that resulted in creation of new lakes and expansion of existing ones, and ultimately an increase in the number of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Himalayan region. This study reports variation of the end-moraine dammed lakes in the high altitude Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) region of Pakistan to evaluate future floods hazard under changing climate in this region. An integrated temporal remote sensing and Geographic information system (GIS) based approach using satellite images of Landsat-7 and 8 was adopted to detect 482 endmoraine dammed lakes out of which 339 lakes (>0.02 km2) were selected for temporal change analysis during the 2001-2013 period. The findings of the study revealed a net expansion in the end-moraine dammed lakes area in the Karakoram (about 7.7%) and in the Himalayas (4.6%), while there was a net shrinkage of about 1.5% in the lakes area in the Hindukush range during this period. The percentage increase in the lakes’ area was highest above 4500 m asl in the Hindukush, within 3500-4000 m asl in the Himalayas and below 3500 m asl in the Karakoram range. The overall positive change in the lakes’ area appears to prevail in various altitudinal ranges of the region. The heterogeneous areal changes in the endmoraine dammed lakes might be attributed to different climate regimes and glacial hydrodynamics in the three HKH ranges. A periodic monitoring of the glacial lakes and their associated glaciers is essential for developing effective hazard assessment and risk reduction strategies for this high altitude Himalayan region.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Ageta Y, Iwata S, Yabuki H, et al. (2000) Expansion of glacier lakes in recent decades in the Bhutan Himalayas. International Association of Hydrological Sciences (Symposium at Seattle 2000 ‘Debris-covered glaciers’) 264: 165–175. Archer DR (2001) The climate and hydrology of northern Pakistan with respect to assessment of flood risks to hydropower schemes. Report by GTZ/WAPDA. Archer DR and Fowler HJ (2005) The use of exploratory data analysis with ground-based data to assess climate runoff links in the Upper Indus Basin. Landscape ecology and Environment Research (German): 75–82. Ashraf A, Roohi R, Ijaz S, et al. (2008) Monitoring global warming impact on glacier environment using GIS application. In proceedings of National Seminar on State and Challenges of GIS/RS Applications in Water sector, by PCRWR, Islamabad 25-26 June, 2008. Ashraf A, Roohi R, Naz R and Mustafa N (2011) Identification of glacial flood hazards in Karakoram range using Remote sensing technique and risk analysis. Science Vision 16&17: 71–80. Ashraf A, Roohi R, Naz R and Mustafa N (2014) Monitoring cryosphere and associated flood hazards in high mountain ranges of Pakistan using Remote sensing technique. Natural Hazards 73: 933–949. DOI 10.1007/s11069-014-1126-3 Awan SA (2002) The climate and flood risk potential of northern Pakistan. Special issue: Science Vision 47 (3&4): 100–109. Basnet S, Kulkarni AV and Bolch T (2013) The influence of debris cover and glacial lakes on the recession of glaciers in Sikkim Himalaya, India. Journal of Glaciology 59 (218): 1035–1046. Benn DI, Bolch T, Hands K, et al. (2012) Response of debriscovered glaciers in the Mount Everest region to recent warming, and implications for outburst flood hazards. Earth-Science Reviews 114: 156–174. DOI:10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.008 Bhutiyani MR, Kale VSand Pawarc NJ (2009) Climate change and the precipitation variations in the northwestern Himalaya: 1866-2006. International Journal of Climatology 30 (4): 535–548. Bolch T, Buchroithner MF, Peters J, et al. (2008) Identification of glacier motion and potentially dangerous glacier lakes at Mt. Everest area/Nepal using space borne imagery. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science 8: 1329–1340. Bolch T, Kulkarni A, Kaab A, et al. (2012) The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers. Science 336 (6079): 310–314. Bolch T, Menounos B and Wheate R (2010) Landsat-based inventory of glaciers in western Canada, 1985–2005. Remote Sensing of Environment 144: 127–137. Byers AC, McKinney DC, Somos-Valenzuela M, et al. (2013) Glacial lakes of the Hinku and Hongu valleys, Makalu Barun National Parkand Buffer Zone, Nepal. Natural Hazards 69 (1): 115–139.DOI:10.1007/s11069-013-0689-8 Chaudhry Q and Rasul G (2007) Development of a mesoscale convective system over the foothills of Himalaya into a severe storm. In Baudo R, Tartari G, Elisa V (eds), Mountains witnesses of global changes: Research in the Himalaya and Karakoram–Share-Asia Project, Developments in Earth Surface Processes 10: 301–311. Chaudhry Q, Mahmood A, Rasul G and Afzaal M (2009) Climate change indicators of Pakistan, Pakistan Meteorological Department Technical Report No 22/2009. Chen XQ, Cui P, Li Y, et al. (2007) Changes in glacial lakes and glaciers of post-1986 in the Poiqu River basin, Nyalam, Xizang (Tibet). Geomorphology 88: 298–311. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.11.012 Clague and Evans (2000) A reviews of catastrophic drainage of moraine-dammed lakes in British Columbia. Quaternary Science Review 19: 1763–1783. Costa JE and Schuster RL (1988) The formation and failure of natural dams. Geological Society of American Bulletin 100: 1054–1068. Dimri APand Dash SK (2010) Winter temperature and precipitation changes in the Siachen Glacier. Current Science 98 (12): 1620–1625. Dimri APand Dash SK (2012) Wintertime climate trends in the western Himalayas. Climate Change 111 (3/4): 775. DOI: 10.1007/A10584-011-0201-y Emmer A and Cochachin A (2013) The causes and mechanisms of moraine-dammed lake failures in the Cordillera Blanca, North American Cordillera, and Himalayas. AUC Geographica 48 (2): 5–15. Fowler HJand Archer DR (2006) Conflicting signals of climatic change in the Upper Indus Basin. Journal of Climate 19 (17): 4276–4293. Fujita K, Sakai A, Takenaka S, et al. (2013) Potential flood volume of Himalayan glacial lakes. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science 13: 1827–1839. DOI: 10.5194/nhess-13-1827-2013 Gardelle J, Arnaud Y, Berthier E (2011) Contrasted evolution of glacial lakes along the Hindu Kush Himalaya mountain range between 1990 and 2009. Global and Planetary Change 75: 47–55. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.10.003 Hewitt K (1990) Overall Report: Snow and Ice Hydrology Project, Upper Indus Basin SIHP, Cold Regions Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University. pp 179. Hewitt K (2005) The Karakoram anomaly? Glacier expansion and the ‘Elevation Effect’, Karakoram Himalaya. Mountain Research and Development 25: 332–340. Hewitt K (2007) Tributary glacial surges: an exceptional concentration at Panmah Glacier, Karakoram Himalaya. Journal of Glaciology 53: 181–188. Huggel C, Kääb A, Haeberli W, et al. (2002) Remote sensing based assessment of hazards from glacier lake outbursts: a case study in the Swiss Alps. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 39: 316–330. Huggel C (2004) Assessment of glacial hazards based on remote sensing and GIS modeling, Institute of Geography, Zürich University. ICIMOD (2011) Glacial lakes and glacial lake outburst floods in Nepal. Kathmandu: ICIMOD. IPCC (2013) Fifth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Working Group 1. Summary for Policy Makers-Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Iwata S, Ageta Y, Naito N, et al. (2002) Glacial lakes and their outburst flood assessment in the Bhutan Himalaya. Global Environmental Research 6: 3–17. Kääb A, Huggel C, Fischer L, et al. (2005) Remote sensing of glacier-and permafrost-related hazards in high mountains: an overview. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 5: 527–554. DOI: 10.5194/nhess-5-527-2005 Komori J, Gurung DR, Iwata S and Yabuki H (2004) Variation and lake expansion of Chubda Glacier, Bhutan Himalayas, during the last 35 years. Bulletin of Glaciological Research 21: 49–55. Komori (2008) Recent expansions of glacial lakes in the Bhutan Himalayas. Quaternary International 184: 177–186. McKillop RJ and Clague JJ (2007) Statistical, remote sensingbased approach for estimating the probability of catastrophic drainage from moraine-dammed lakes in southwestern British Columbia. Global and Planetary Change 56: 153–171. Mergili M, Müller JPand Schneider JF (2013) Spatio-temporal development of high mountain lakes in the headwaters of the Amu Darya River (Central Asia). Global and Planetary Change 107: 13–24. Mool PK (1995) Glacier lake outburst floods in Nepal. Journal of Nepal Geological Society 11: 273–280. Mool PK, Bajracharya SRand Joshi SP (2001) Inventory of glaciers, glacial lakes, and glacial lake outburst floods: Monitoring and early warning systems in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region–Nepal. Kathmandu: ICIMOD. Mukhopadhyay B and Khan A (2014) Rising river flows and glacial mass balance in central Karakoram. Journal of Hydrology 513: 192–203. Raj KBG, Remya SN and Kumar KV (2013) Remote sensingbased hazard assessment of glacial lakes in Sikkim Himalaya. Current Science 104 (3): 359–364. Richardson S and Reynolds J (2000) An overview of glacial hazards in the Himalayas. Quaternary International 65: 31–47. Richardson SD (2010) Remote sensing approaches for early warning of GLOF hazards in the Hindukush–Himalayan region, Final report-ver 1.2, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) Roohi R, Mool P, Ashraf A, et al. (2005) Inventory of glaciers, glacial lakes the identification of potential glacial lake outburst floods affected by global warming in the mountains of Himalayan Region, Pakistan, ICIMOD, Nepal and PARC, Pakistan. Salerno F, Thakuri S, D’Agata C, et al. (2012) Glacial lake distribution in the Mount Everest region: uncertainty of measurement and conditions of formation. Global and Planetary Change 92-93: 30–39. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.04.001 Shrestha AB (2009) Climate Change in the Hindukush-Himalayas and its impacts on water and hazards. APMN (Asia Pacific Mountain Network) Bulletin 9: 1–5. Wake CP (1989) Glaciochemical investigations as a tool to determine the spatial variation of snow accumulation in the central Karakoram, Northern Pakistan. Annals of Glaciololgy 13: 279–284. Wang X, Liu S, Ding Y, et al. (2012) An approach for estimating the breach probabilities of moraine-dammed lakes in the Chinese Himalayas using remote-sensing data. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 12: 3109–3122. DOI: 10.5194/nhess-12-3109-2012 Wang W, Xiang Y, Gao Y, et al. (2015) Rapid expansion of glacial lakes caused by climate and glacier retreat in the Central Himalayas. Hydrological Processes 29 (6): 859–874. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10199 Watanabe T, Lamsal D and Ives JD (2009) Evaluating the growth characteristics of a glacial lake and its degree of danger of outburst flooding: Imja Glacier, Khumbu Himal, Nepal. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift 63 (4): 255–267. Winiger M, Gumpert M and Yamout H (2005) Karakoram-Hindu Kush-Western Himalaya: assessing high-altitude water resources. Hydrological Processes 19 (12): 2329–2338. Yao T, Li Z, Yang W, et al. (2010) Glacial distribution and mass balance in the Yarlung Zangbo River and its influence on lakes. Chinese Science Bulletin 55: 2072–2078. Ye Q, Zhu L, Zheng H, et al. (2007) Glacier and lake variations in the Yamzhog Yumco basin, southern Tibetan Plateau, from 1980 to 2000 using remote-sensing and GIS technologies, Journal of Glaciology 53 (183): 673–676. Zurick D, Pacheco J, Shrestha B and Bajracharya B (2006) Atlas of the Himalaya. Kathmandu, Nepal: ICIMOD.