Abstract
Glaciers in the Karakoram region are widely recognized for their historical surging phenomenon. Accurate field-based glacier monitoring is challenging in the Karakoram due to the presence of mixed-nature glaciers that are advancing, receding, and surging. Many geographers came to the opinion that surging is a thermally controlled activity in the Karakoram as opposed to a hydrologically controlled activity as a result of characteristics including high-altitude warmth, precipitation, and accumulation patterns of these glaciers. But the main surge mechanism is still a mystery. The current study used Landsat multispectral satellite datasets to examine and investigate the glaciers’ vulnerability to surging activity in the Hunza basin based on the annual surface ice flow rate and frontal snout advancement of the glaciers from 1990 to 2021. Around 80 glaciers in the Hunza basin have been researched, and based on interannual surface flow rates, it has been determined that Batura, Hassanabad II, Barpu, Gharesa, Hispar, Khurdopin, Minapin, Virjerab, Yazgil, and Ghulkin glaciers are more vulnerable to surging. The findings show that during the research period, these glaciers had surged and advanced along their snouts. The frontal snout of these glaciers advances, and moraines are deposited closer to the glacier terminus as a consequence of active surge points over the ablation region. The Hunza basin’s topography, precipitation, and thermal regimes regulate the glaciers’ surging phenomena causing successive acceleration in the glaciers. Field-based measurements made with a differential global positioning system are used to corroborate the obtained results.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and cooperation given by Dr. Krishna Venkatesh, Director, Centre for Incubation, Innovation, Research and Consultancy (CIIRC)-Jyothy Institute of Technology, Bengaluru.
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This study was supported by Network on Himalayan Cryosphere (NHC) (also known as “Strategic Programmes Large Initiatives and Coordinated Action Enabler-Climate Change Program” (SPLICE-CCP)), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, under the National Network Program on Himalayan Cryosphere with the project no. DST/CCP/NHC/156/2018(G).
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Geetha Priya Murugesan conceptualized the idea, wrote the proposal DST, and provided the necessary resources to carry out this research. Geetha Priya Murugesan supervised Sivaranjani Sivalingam throughout this study. Sivaranjani Sivalingam and Krishnaveni Dhulipala processed and analyzed the datasets. Geetha Priya Murugesan and Sivaranjani Sivalingam wrote the manuscript. Anil Vishnupant Kulkarni and Suresh Devaraj provided essential technical inputs that helped improve the manuscript.
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Sivalingam, S., Murugesan, G.P., Kulkarni, A.V. et al. Study of dynamics in surface ice flow rate of glaciers in Hunza basin, Karakoram. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 62782–62802 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26441-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26441-3