The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet
Due to warm and humid air currents of the Indian Ocean and the southwest monsoon, the Palong Zangbo catchment in southeastern Tibet has developed oceanic glaciers in the valley, and the activity of glacial debris flows has been gradually intensified under neotectonic activity, frequent earthquakes,...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1265852/full |
| _version_ | 1797374302836752384 |
|---|---|
| author | Liu Yang Liu Yang Tang Chuan Gong Lingfeng Xiong Jiang |
| author_facet | Liu Yang Liu Yang Tang Chuan Gong Lingfeng Xiong Jiang |
| author_sort | Liu Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Due to warm and humid air currents of the Indian Ocean and the southwest monsoon, the Palong Zangbo catchment in southeastern Tibet has developed oceanic glaciers in the valley, and the activity of glacial debris flows has been gradually intensified under neotectonic activity, frequent earthquakes, climate change, and extreme rainfall. In this paper, the topographic and morphological data of the debris flow basin, the dynamic evolution characteristics of glaciers and glacial lakes were analyzed by using multisource long-term series of remote sensing images. Simultaneously, the distribution of moraines and landslide sources were extracted based on satellite image. In addition, climate change in the study area was analysed using temperature and rainfall data from the last 40 years, revealing that the average temperature in the study area from May to October presented a fluctuating tendency as a whole, especially after 2013, when the temperature gradually increased. As these temperature changes led to continuous melting of the glaciers in the study area, the glacier area decreased from 8,300 km2 in 1988–4,584 km2 in 2019, which decreased nearly 45%. However, the number and area of glacial lakes in the study area gradually increased under a power-law trend, which further led to a significant increase on the possibility of glacial lake rupture in the study area. Due to the joint effects of earthquakes, glacier melting and glacial lake collapse, the debris flows in the study area were well developed, and a total of 122 debris flows were found with varying channel lengths, areas and material sources. Importantly, the characteristics of the glaciers, glacial lakes and climate change in the study area have indicated that the glaciers have retreated, the number of glacial lakes has increased, and the risk of debris flow in this basin will increase in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and early warnings on floods due to glacial lake collapses and debris flows in the study area to improve the risk management of debris flows and floods and the prevention and mitigation of disasters. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T19:02:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-835aca17a1bf48a6837b5cfd33142754 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T19:02:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-835aca17a1bf48a6837b5cfd331427542023-12-28T04:12:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632023-12-011110.3389/feart.2023.12658521265852The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern TibetLiu Yang0Liu Yang1Tang Chuan2Gong Lingfeng3Xiong Jiang4State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, ChinaDepartment of Natural Resources of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, ChinaChengdu Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, ChinaDue to warm and humid air currents of the Indian Ocean and the southwest monsoon, the Palong Zangbo catchment in southeastern Tibet has developed oceanic glaciers in the valley, and the activity of glacial debris flows has been gradually intensified under neotectonic activity, frequent earthquakes, climate change, and extreme rainfall. In this paper, the topographic and morphological data of the debris flow basin, the dynamic evolution characteristics of glaciers and glacial lakes were analyzed by using multisource long-term series of remote sensing images. Simultaneously, the distribution of moraines and landslide sources were extracted based on satellite image. In addition, climate change in the study area was analysed using temperature and rainfall data from the last 40 years, revealing that the average temperature in the study area from May to October presented a fluctuating tendency as a whole, especially after 2013, when the temperature gradually increased. As these temperature changes led to continuous melting of the glaciers in the study area, the glacier area decreased from 8,300 km2 in 1988–4,584 km2 in 2019, which decreased nearly 45%. However, the number and area of glacial lakes in the study area gradually increased under a power-law trend, which further led to a significant increase on the possibility of glacial lake rupture in the study area. Due to the joint effects of earthquakes, glacier melting and glacial lake collapse, the debris flows in the study area were well developed, and a total of 122 debris flows were found with varying channel lengths, areas and material sources. Importantly, the characteristics of the glaciers, glacial lakes and climate change in the study area have indicated that the glaciers have retreated, the number of glacial lakes has increased, and the risk of debris flow in this basin will increase in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and early warnings on floods due to glacial lake collapses and debris flows in the study area to improve the risk management of debris flows and floods and the prevention and mitigation of disasters.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1265852/fullglacial debris flowglacial lake burstclimate changedebris flow activityremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Liu Yang Liu Yang Tang Chuan Gong Lingfeng Xiong Jiang The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet Frontiers in Earth Science glacial debris flow glacial lake burst climate change debris flow activity remote sensing |
| title | The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet |
| title_full | The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet |
| title_fullStr | The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet |
| title_full_unstemmed | The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet |
| title_short | The evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the Palong Zangbu catchment in Southeastern Tibet |
| title_sort | evolution of glacial lake and glaciers and their potential impact on glacial debris flow activity in the palong zangbu catchment in southeastern tibet |
| topic | glacial debris flow glacial lake burst climate change debris flow activity remote sensing |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1265852/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT liuyang theevolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT liuyang theevolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT tangchuan theevolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT gonglingfeng theevolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT xiongjiang theevolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT liuyang evolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT liuyang evolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT tangchuan evolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT gonglingfeng evolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet AT xiongjiang evolutionofglaciallakeandglaciersandtheirpotentialimpactonglacialdebrisflowactivityinthepalongzangbucatchmentinsoutheasterntibet |