Geographical Information System 2014 new glacier lakes 2014

Geographical Information System 2014

As glaciers melt in Himalayas, new lakes crop up Indicating the impact of global warming, glacier melting over a 47-year period has led to formation of seven new glacial lakes in Chandra-Bagha Basin of western Himalayas.

Preliminary findings of an ongoing study by researchers from IIT, Bombay, showed that glacier lakes underwent continuous changes between 1963 and 2010. Geographical Information System (GIS) tools and high resolution remote sensing technology were used to delineate glacier lakes situated in inaccessible Himalayan terrain.

In all, 15 large glacier lakes situated at an elevation between 4069 meters to 5252 meters
were chosen for monitoring the changes that occurred. Continuous ice-melting due to glacier recession (loss of ice due to excess melting) caused the formation of seven new lakes near the mouth of the glaciers.

These were formed as moraine-dammed lakes and the glacier-lake area was estimated to have increased approximately by 2591 sq.meters during the 47-year period. Moraine is a depositional feature of glacier. As the glacier starts moving, it accumulates small rocks, debris, ice fragments and soil.


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