CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (7): 1156-1164.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2023.566

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research review of mass changes for lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalayas

JIA Shangkun1(), WEI Junfeng1(), ZHANG Fagang1, WANG Xin1,2   

  1. 1. School of Earth Sciences and Spatial Information Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, Hunan, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China
  • Received:2023-10-11 Revised:2024-01-27 Online:2024-07-25 Published:2024-07-30
  • Contact: WEI Junfeng E-mail:jsk0618@163.com;weijunfeng@hnust.edu.cn

Abstract:

Lake-terminating glaciers are widely distributed in the Himalayas, and their rapid melting and terminal calving are the most significant triggering and influencing factors of glacial lake outburst floods in the region. In recent years, the lake-terminating glaciers have experienced continuous and accelerating mass loss. From 1975 to 2000, the mass loss of lake-terminating glaciers was −0.33±0.07 m w.e.·a−1. In the past 10 years, it has reached −0.56±0.08 m w.e.·a−1, and its average mass loss rate was −0.45±0.08 m w.e.·a−1. The mass loss rate of lake-terminating glaciers is significantly higher than that of others, and terminal melting and calving are the primary reasons. The subaqueous mass loss of lake-terminating glaciers terminus cannot be accurately estimated. The plume model is widely used to simulate the melting of tidewater glaciers, providing a feasible method for determining the lake-ice mass/heat exchange process at the lake-terminating glaciers terminus. The amount of subglacial meltwater runoff, the cross-section shape of the glacier terminal, and the temperature and density of lake water significantly affect the estimation results of the plume model. Evaluating the underwater melting characteristics of glacier terminals based on the plume model will lay the foundation for accurately estimating future glacier mass changes.

Key words: lake-terminating glacier, glacier change, glacier mass balance, plume model, Himalayas