Hydrologic and Geomorphic Changes Resulting from the Onset of Episodic Glacial Lake Outburst Floods: Colonia River, Chile

Abstract:

The Colonia river system, draining the eastern edge of the Northern Patagonia Icefield, Chile, has experienced a dramatic shift in flow regime from one characterized by seasonal discharge variability to one dominated by episodic glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). We use multi-temporal visible satellite images, high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from stereo image pairs, and in situ observations to quantify sediment and water fluxes out of the dammed glacial lake, Lago Cachet Dos (LC2), as well as the concomitant downstream environmental change. GLOFs initiated in April 2008 and have since occurred, on average, two to three times a year. Differencing concurrent gage measurements made on the Baker River upstream and downstream of the confluence with the Colonia river finds peak GLOF discharges of ~ 3,000 m³s^-1, which is ~ 4 times the median discharge of the Baker River and over 20 times the median discharge of the Colonia river. During each GLOF, ~ 200,000,000 m³ of water evacuates from the LC2, resulting in erosion of valley-fill sediments and the delta on the upstream end of LC2. Differencing DEMs between April 2008 and February 2014 revealed that ~ 2.5 x 10⁷ m³ of sediment was eroded. Multi-temporal DEM differencing shows that erosion rates were highest initially, with > 20 vertical m of sediment removed between 2008 and 2012, and generally less than 5 m between 2012 and 2014. The downstream Colonia River Sandur also experienced geomorphic changes due to GLOFs. Using Landsat imagery to calculate the normalized difference water index (NDWI), we demonstrate that the Colonia River was in a stable configuration between 1984 and 2008. At the onset of GLOFs in April 2008, a change in channel location began and continued with each subsequent GLOF. Quantification of sediment and water fluxes due to GLOFs in the Colonia river valley provides insight on the geomorphic and environmental changes in river systems experiencing dramatic shifts in flow regime.