Introduction
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a release of
meltwater
from a moraine- orice-dam glacial lake due to dam failure. GLOFs
often result incatastrophic flooding downstream,with major
geomorphic and socioeconomic impacts
This type of flood is typically caused by rapid melting of
glaciers or the build-up of water in the lake due to heavy
precipitation or the inflow of melt-water.
" InFebruary 2021, Chamolidistrict in Uttarakhand witnessed flash floods
which are suspected to have been caused by GLOFs.
GLOFs have three main features:
" They involve sudden (and sometimes cyclic) releases of water.
They tend tobe rapid events, lasting hours to days.
" They result in large downstream river discharges (which often
increase by an order of magnitude).
Causes
These floods can betriggered by anumber of factors, including
" changes in the volume of the glacier,
. changes inthe water level of the lake, and earthquakes.
According to NDMA (National Disaster Management
Authority), glacial retreat due to climate change occurring in most
parts of the Hindu Kush Himalayas has given rise to the formation of
numerous new glacial lakes, which are the major cause of GLOFs.
Glacial lake settings
form:
There are twomain settings in which glacial lakes
ice dams.
(1) behind moraine dams, and (2) behind
Moraine-dammed lakes
moraine. As a glacier
Moraine-dammed lakes form during periods of glacier retreat from a
collects in the topographic low between the ice-front and the
margin etreats,water formed
existing moraine-dammed lakes
abandoned frontal and/or lateral moraine. Most
retreat from large moraine ridges constructed during the
when mountain glaciers began to
Little lce Age
Ice-dammed lakes
moraine-dammed lakes, ice-dammed lakes form when drainage is blocked by a
Incontrast to
advances or becomes thicker. Consequently, ice-dammed lake growth is closely
glacier that
Ice-dammed lakes form wherever a glacier
related to glacier mass balance and climate.
blocks the drainage of meltwater.
shown in the diagram below. These include:
The main settings for ice-dammed lakes are
tributary valley is blocked by a trunk glacier; where a glacier from a tributary valley
where a
across the main trunk valley; in openings between the lateral glacier margin and
advances
ice-free valley sides; and at the point where two glaciers join.
moranes
utwash tan
Daguangtao rock avaianche
Yaoyngyan landslide
- Man-made gravty dams
200 m ]regtt
1000 m
width and height of tpical moraine, outwash. landslide and man-made gravitv dams.
Approximate and contain a relativelv small volume of
Compared to other common dam types. moraines are narrow,
material.
Displacement waves
sudden input
Outburst floods in moraine-dammed settings are often caused by the
into a lake causing displacement of water and overtopping of the dam.
of material
or rockfalls,
Displacement (or seiche)waves are commonly triggered by avalanches
calving of a lake-terminating glacier. Other triggers include, the rapid input of
or
rapidly
meltwater from an glacier upstream, heavy rainfallor snowmelt events that
dam
raise the lake level, or earthquakes that destabilise the moraine
The failure of ice or moraine dams
and moraine dams depends on two main factors:
" The failure of glacier
(1) the integrity of the dam
(2) the nature of trigger mechanisms.
" Moraine-dam failures
dams tend to be narrow and sharp-crested. As such, thev are more likely
Moraine
than broader dam types, such as ice-contact fans or landslide. Most
to fail sediment, and some
moraines are made up of loose, poorly sorted, permeable
ice cores. Unconsolidated sediments are susceptible to failure, especialy if
contain subside over time.
saturated, while the melting of ice cores may cause moraines to
weaknesses, where a moraine is low, wide, and armoured by large
Despite these thousands of vears.
rock material it may survive intact for hundreds or even
seiche wave
vertoppng
glacier caving
morainedammed lake
moraine
dam
Calving of ice blocks at the glacier terminus is a common cause for lake water displacement,
seiche wave development, and overtopping of moraine dams
flowing acrossthe
" Breach incision occur. This occursaswater
breach incisioncan process wherechannel
overtopped, a processcalled starting a positivefeedback greaterrates
Once the moraine. encourage
surfaceerodesa channelinto discharges leavingtheoutlet volumes of
dam and the higher also adds large
allows more waterto escape, lake to drain veryrapidBy. It
incision dammed destructive debris
processallows a moraine into highlv
[Link] waters, which mav then develop
flood
unconsolidatedsediment tothe moraine gtacier
flows.
moraino broach
Lake
School
Example of moraine breach at
room Glacier lake, Grand Teton
process
National Park, USA, with schematic to Broach nason
rroraro
moraine incison
show breach incision process T T2
overtopping
Beote
schrge
Morainedegradation
Piping (the seepage of water and sediment through a moraine weakening its
internal structure) or the melting of ice cores can trigger moraine collapse, or
lower themoraine tothe point where a smaller displacement wave will cause
overtopping and breach incision.
" Ice-dam failures
Unlike moraine dam failures, the drainage of an ice-dammed lake does not
necessarily end in dam destruction. This is because water can drain through sub
glacial channels that close up when water discharge drops, or because an ice
margin may temporarily float before regaining contact with bed.
water (~1.0g/cm3).
(-0.9g/cm3) and
Ice dam flotation densitybetween ice will lift from
thedifferencein dam height theice
occursdue to Q0%ofthe
glacier
Ice-damfloatation when lake level reaches
empties, and its levelfalls
diagram below, However, as a lake
Asshown in the
subglacial conduits.
close up. This stopslake
canescape through subglacialconduits
bed, and water bed and
the dropsto the T:
90% of damheight, theglacier
below
lake to refill.
fotation kevel
drainageandallows a
no flotation
sealed conduts
overturden pressure
hydrostasc pressure < Ke
glacial
Ice-dam flotation mechanism of T2
lifts from
lake drainage. The ice dam
the bed when hydrostatic (water) lake dranago
overburden subglacial conduit
pressure is greater than ice ico-dam fotaton
pressure. Lake water can then escape
open concuts
through subglacial conduits.
hyotatc pessure >e Cverburden pressure
GLOFs
Differences between moraine- and ice-dammed
given potential energy (think of thisas lake volume) moraine dam outbursts
For a
of repeated
typically produce higher magnitude floods. However, the threat
often destroyed
GLOFs from a single lake is low because moraine dams are
during an outburst.
destruction,
Ice-dammed lake drainage, by contrast, does not often result in dam
meaning that ice-dammed lakes can drain and refill many times.
lower
So,while in the modern-day ice-dammed lake outbursts typically produce
discharge, and less destructive, floods, they may have long-term impacts on
downstream communities and infrastructure
Overspilling
Lakr drainage can alo onnur by simple overplling, for example, during aange
rainfal or snowmelt event that cNUses lake level to rise. This is nost eommon at
cold-ased glaciens, nhich are fruven to the bed and les permeable than Warm
haed glacien,
(m/sec)
Redrawn ad moáfed tom Costa &Schuster (1988)
10
Flood size [Link] energy of darnmed lake water
dischargo
10
GLOF
Moraine-dam outbursts
flood thugher dscharges for
10
sarme Dotental energy)
Maximum lce-dan QutbursSts
tower discharges tor
10 same potental energy)
same potental energy
SJ Bencie
10 1016
10? 108 10° 1010 10 1012 1013 1014 1015
Potential energy (joules) of dammed lake water
Floodsize vs. potential energy of lake water (plotted on logarithmic scale). Moraine-dam outbursts produce,
on average, GLOFs with higher flood discharges, than ice-dam outbursts. For example, a moraine- and ice
dammed lake with the same potential energEY of 10^13 joules (black dots),will lead to a peak flood discharge
of 10^4 and 10^2 m/sec respectively.
Effects and Impacts:
The floods that follow come thick and fast, in many cases being powerful enough to
destroy vital infrastructure.
GLOF hasthe potential to catastrophically threaten people's lives, livelihoods and
regional infrastructure.
Threat to India:
. In the Himalayas,25 glacial lakesand water bodies have witnessed an
increase in water spread area since 2009.
. There has been a 4o% increase in water spread in India, China and Nepal,
posing a huge threat to seven Indian states and Union Territories.
Of these, six are Himalayan states / UTS: Jammu and Kashmir.
Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
" The rapid onset and high discharge of GLOFs means there is often insufficient
time to effectively warn downstream populations and for effective action to be
taken, particularly for populations located within 10-15 km of the source lake.
Vulnerability: glacial lakes which
risk of catastrophic flooding from
Upto 15 millionpeople face the
could burst their natural dams at any moment.
mountainous countries in Asia and South America.
Thosefacing the greatest threat live in
The majority of the globally exposed population -9.3 (HMA).
million (62%) arelocated in the region of high mountain Asia
1okm of a glacial lake.
In Asia, around one million people live within just half of those at
China account for over
. People living in India,Pakistan, Peru and
risk (globally).
Most DangerousBasins:
dangerous of Glacial basins ae found in Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa basin), Peru
The most
million and o.1 million people
(Santa basin) and Bolivia (Beni basin) containing 1.2 million, o.g
respectively who could be exposed to GLOF impacts.
rapid deglaciation over the last
Glaciers across the Andes (S America) have undergone
20 years in response to climate changes.
Tackle Glacial Burst:
NDMA'sGuidelines to
Potentially DangerousLakes: observations, records of past
Identiflying identiied based on field
lakes can be surroundings,
Potentially dangerous the lake/dam and
geomorphologic and geotechnicalcharacteristicesof
events,
conditions.
and other phvsical
Use of Teehnology: imagery (a form of radar that is used to create
Synthetic-Aperture Radar
Promoting use of
detect changes in water bodies, including new lake
two-dimensional images) to automatically
formations, during the monsoon months.
ChannelingPotentinl Floods:
as controlled breaching, pumping
Reducing the volume of water with methods such
making a tunnel through the moraine barrier or under an ice dam.
orsiphoning out water, and
Uniform Codes for Construction Activity:
framework for infrastructure development, construction and excavation in
. Developing a broad
vulnerable zones.
prone areas.
There is a need to nccept procedures for land use planning in the GLOF
Warning Systems (EWS): verysmall, even at the
EnhancingEarly is
operationalGLOFEWS
ofimplemented and
The number
instances (two in Nepal and one in
globalscale.
there are at least three reported svstems for GLOF early
region, monitoring-based technical
Inthe Himalayan and
implementation ofsensor-
China) of
warning.
Training Local Manpower:
National Disaster Response Force
specialised forces such as
: Apart from
pressing
emphasised the need for trained local
NDMA has
(NDRF). ITBP and the Army,
manpower.
and rescue is carried out by the local
over 8o% of search
It has been observed that machinery and specialised search and rescue
the state
community before the intervention of
teams.
Comprehensive Alarm Systems:
of acoustic alarms by sirens, modern
Besides classical alarm infrastructure consisting
complement or even
communication technology using cell and smartphones can
replace traditional alarming infrastructure.