IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v86y2017i3d10.1007_s11069-017-2743-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A geospatial analysis of Samudra Tapu and Gepang Gath glacial lakes in the Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya

Author

Listed:
  • Lavkush Kumar Patel

    (ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences)

  • Parmanand Sharma

    (ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences)

  • C. M. Laluraj

    (ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences)

  • Meloth Thamban

    (ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences)

  • Ajit Singh

    (ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences)

  • Rasik Ravindra

    (Earth System Science Organization, Ministry of Earth Sciences (Government of India))

Abstract

Geospatial studies carried out in two major proglacial lakes of Samudra Tapu and Gepang Gath (Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya) showed substantial expansion in their area and volume over the last four decades (1971–2014). The linear and areal expansions for the lakes Samudra Tapu and Gepang Gath were 1889, 1509 m and 1, 0.6 km2, respectively. The results show that increased melting of the feeder glaciers over this period is major contributor to expand the volumes approximately 20 times of both the lakes Samudra Tapu and Gepang Gath. This expansion of lakes volume of Samudra Tapu and Gepang Gath from 3.4 × 106 to 67.7 × 106 and 1.5 × 106 to 27.5 × 106 m3, respectively, is quite significance in terms of hazards generated from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF). This kind of climate change induced increase in the rate of glacial melting is a cause of concern, as the Himalaya Mountains may turn out to be vulnerable to natural hazards like GLOF.

Suggested Citation

  • Lavkush Kumar Patel & Parmanand Sharma & C. M. Laluraj & Meloth Thamban & Ajit Singh & Rasik Ravindra, 2017. "A geospatial analysis of Samudra Tapu and Gepang Gath glacial lakes in the Chandra Basin, Western Himalaya," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 86(3), pages 1275-1290, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:86:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-017-2743-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-017-2743-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-017-2743-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-017-2743-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:86:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-017-2743-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.