Monday 1 October 2018

Lower Barun Glacial Lake


Glaciers in the Himalaya are leaving behind 1000s of glacial lakes as they thin and retreat. Here, Lower Barun Glacier has formed a lake >200 m deep and growing. The lake featured in a recent study by Haritashya et al. (2018) investigating three large glacial lakes in Nepal icluding Thulagi and Imja.

3D view of Lower Barun Glacier and lake. [Credit: Scott Watson]

Area change of Imja, Lower Barun, and Thulagi Glacial Lakes as monitored using Landsat
satellite images from the early mid-1970s to 2017. Second- and third-order polynomial projections are
fitted to each lake area data to extrapolate possible future growth up to 2025.[Credit: Haritashya et al. 2018]

Bathymetry of Lower Barun Lake. [Credit: Haritashya et al. 2018]