Response of downstream lakes to Aru glacier collapses on the western Tibetan Plateau

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Lei, Yanbin, Yao, Tandong, Tian, Lide, Sheng, Yongwei, Liao, Jingjuan, Zhao, Huabiao, Yang, Wei, Yang, Kun, Berthier, Etienne, Brun, Fanny, Gao, Yang, Zhu, Meilin, Wu, Guangjian
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales (LEGOS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; [SDU.STU.HY]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Hydrology; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03361060; https://hal.science/hal-03361060/document; https://hal.science/hal-03361060/file/Lei_et_al_TC_2021.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-199-2021

International audience Abstract. The lower parts of two glaciers in the Aru range on the western Tibetan Plateau (TP) collapsed on 17 July and 21 September 2016, respectively, causing fatal damage to local people and their livestock. The giant ice avalanches, with a total volume of 150 × 106 m3, had almost melted by September 2019 (about 30 % of the second ice avalanche remained). The impact of these extreme disasters on downstream lakes has not been investigated yet. Based on in situ observation, bathymetry survey and satellite data, we explore the impact of the ice avalanches on the two downstream lakes (i.e., Aru Co and Memar Co) in terms of lake morphology, water level and water temperature in the subsequent 4 years (2016–2019). After the first glacier collapse, the ice avalanche slid into Aru Co along with a large amount of debris, which generated great impact waves in Aru Co and significantly modified the lake's shoreline and underwater topography. An ice volume of at least 7.1 × 106 m3 was discharged into Aru Co, spread over the lake surface and considerably lowered its surface temperature by 2–4 ∘C in the first 2 weeks after the first glacier collapse. Due to the large amount of meltwater input, Memar Co exhibited more rapid expansion after the glacier collapses (2016–2019) than before (2003–2014), in particular during the warm season. The melting of ice avalanches was found to contribute to about 23 % of the increase in lake storage between 2016 and 2019. Our results indicate that the Aru glacier collapses had both short-term and long-term impacts on the downstream lakes and provide a baseline in understanding the future lake response to glacier melting on the TP under a warming climate.