Thermal, Chemical and Physical Investigations into Lake Deepening Processes on Spillway Lake, Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal

Abstract:

The Ngozumpa glacier is one of Nepal’s largest and longest glaciers, fed by catchments on the slopes of Cho Oyu, the 6^th highest peak in the world. Supraglacial lakes abound along its ~18-km-long ablation zone, but these are dwarfed in area and volume by Spillway lake, a terminal supraglacial lake that is currently expanding and deepening in the lowest kilometer of the glacier. This lake poses a potential future downstream flooding threat, hence there is a perceived need for continuous monitoring and for quantifying factors that lead to growth, deepening and potential instability. Point-interpolated depth surveys (2010/2012) by Thompson and others have revealed deepening hotspots in multiple locations within the lake. The current study reports University of Colorado surveys in 2013 and 2014 that quantify a) vertical water temperature variations in areas of deepening and shallowing; b) physical and chemical characteristics of dredged sediment samples from the lake floor; c) lake water chemistry; d) lake floor bathymetry imaged using high-resolution side-scan sonar and e) lake bottom hardness and roughness. These parameters are analyzed with a view to assessing their role in controlling lake floor deepening and growth.