Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods
As the world’s glaciers recede in response to a warming atmosphere, a change in the magnitude and frequency of related hazards is expected. Among the most destructive hazards are glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and their future evolution is concerning for local populations and sustainable deve...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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2024
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Online Access: | https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/d3f29dad-1dd2-443a-9c53-5e3221164f9d https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/121453910/Geophysical_Research_Letters_-_2024_-_Wood_-_Shaking_up_Assumptions_Earthquakes_Have_Rarely_Triggered_Andean_Glacier_Lake.pdf |
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ftunivdundeepure:oai:discovery.dundee.ac.uk:publications/d3f29dad-1dd2-443a-9c53-5e3221164f9d 2024-09-09T20:03:13+00:00 Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods Wood, Joanne L. Harrison, Stephan Wilson, Ryan Emmer, Adam Kargel, Jeffrey S. Cook, Simon J. Glasser, Neil F. Reynolds, John M. Shugar, Dan H. Yarleque, Christian 2024-04-16 application/pdf https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/d3f29dad-1dd2-443a-9c53-5e3221164f9d https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/121453910/Geophysical_Research_Letters_-_2024_-_Wood_-_Shaking_up_Assumptions_Earthquakes_Have_Rarely_Triggered_Andean_Glacier_Lake.pdf eng eng https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/d3f29dad-1dd2-443a-9c53-5e3221164f9d info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Wood , J L , Harrison , S , Wilson , R , Emmer , A , Kargel , J S , Cook , S J , Glasser , N F , Reynolds , J M , Shugar , D H & Yarleque , C 2024 , ' Shaking up Assumptions : Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods ' , Geophysical Research Letters , vol. 51 , no. 7 . https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 article 2024 ftunivdundeepure https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 2024-06-18T15:06:27Z As the world’s glaciers recede in response to a warming atmosphere, a change in the magnitude and frequency of related hazards is expected. Among the most destructive hazards are glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and their future evolution is concerning for local populations and sustainable development policy. Central to this is a better understanding of triggers. There is a long-standing assumption that earthquakes are a major GLOF trigger, and seismic activity is consistently included as a key hazard assessment criterion. Here, we provide the first empirical evidence that this assumption is largely incorrect. Focusing on the Tropical Andes, we show that, of 59 earthquakes (1900–2021) the effects of which intersect with known glacier lakes, only one has triggered GLOFs. We argue that, to help develop climate resilient protocols, the focus for future assessments should be on understanding other key GLOF drivers, such as thawing permafrost and underlying structural geology. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Discovery - University of Dundee Online Publications Geophysical Research Letters 51 7 |
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Open Polar |
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Discovery - University of Dundee Online Publications |
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ftunivdundeepure |
language |
English |
description |
As the world’s glaciers recede in response to a warming atmosphere, a change in the magnitude and frequency of related hazards is expected. Among the most destructive hazards are glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and their future evolution is concerning for local populations and sustainable development policy. Central to this is a better understanding of triggers. There is a long-standing assumption that earthquakes are a major GLOF trigger, and seismic activity is consistently included as a key hazard assessment criterion. Here, we provide the first empirical evidence that this assumption is largely incorrect. Focusing on the Tropical Andes, we show that, of 59 earthquakes (1900–2021) the effects of which intersect with known glacier lakes, only one has triggered GLOFs. We argue that, to help develop climate resilient protocols, the focus for future assessments should be on understanding other key GLOF drivers, such as thawing permafrost and underlying structural geology. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wood, Joanne L. Harrison, Stephan Wilson, Ryan Emmer, Adam Kargel, Jeffrey S. Cook, Simon J. Glasser, Neil F. Reynolds, John M. Shugar, Dan H. Yarleque, Christian |
spellingShingle |
Wood, Joanne L. Harrison, Stephan Wilson, Ryan Emmer, Adam Kargel, Jeffrey S. Cook, Simon J. Glasser, Neil F. Reynolds, John M. Shugar, Dan H. Yarleque, Christian Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods |
author_facet |
Wood, Joanne L. Harrison, Stephan Wilson, Ryan Emmer, Adam Kargel, Jeffrey S. Cook, Simon J. Glasser, Neil F. Reynolds, John M. Shugar, Dan H. Yarleque, Christian |
author_sort |
Wood, Joanne L. |
title |
Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods |
title_short |
Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods |
title_full |
Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods |
title_fullStr |
Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shaking up Assumptions:Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods |
title_sort |
shaking up assumptions:earthquakes have rarely triggered andean glacier lake outburst floods |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/d3f29dad-1dd2-443a-9c53-5e3221164f9d https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/121453910/Geophysical_Research_Letters_-_2024_-_Wood_-_Shaking_up_Assumptions_Earthquakes_Have_Rarely_Triggered_Andean_Glacier_Lake.pdf |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Wood , J L , Harrison , S , Wilson , R , Emmer , A , Kargel , J S , Cook , S J , Glasser , N F , Reynolds , J M , Shugar , D H & Yarleque , C 2024 , ' Shaking up Assumptions : Earthquakes Have Rarely Triggered Andean Glacier Lake Outburst Floods ' , Geophysical Research Letters , vol. 51 , no. 7 . https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 |
op_relation |
https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/d3f29dad-1dd2-443a-9c53-5e3221164f9d |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105578 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
51 |
container_issue |
7 |
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1809935167481970688 |