Coupled Subglacial Hydrology and Ice Dynamics Modeling of Lake Drainages and Surging Glaciers in the Himalayas
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: \articletype Original Articles Glacier motion, retreat, and hazards like surges and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) are strongly coupled with subglacial hydrology. In High Mountain Asia, surges and GLOF, which have caused billions in damages in recent decades, occur in the context of increasingly negative mass loss, erratic weather patterns, and dwindling water resources. While there are studies on the role of subglacial hydrology in surges, there is a major gap in our understanding of ice motion as subglacial hydrology alone cannot explain order-of-magnitude changes in velocities observed during surges. While surges and GLOF have generally been studied separately, observations at surge-type glaciers in the Karakoram Range of Pakistan exhibit identical patterns of concurrent surge termination and GLOF, implying that both phenomena may be connected to changes in subglacial hydrology. Here, we build on previous modeling work with SHAKTI (Subglacial Hydrology and Kinetic, Transient Interactions), using the coupled SHAKTI-ISSM framework to demonstrate and parametrize the role of accumulation rates, bed properties, and subglacial hydrology in surge motion. We then use this framework to explore the role of ice-dammed lake drainages (jökulhlaups) in surge termination.
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4414987253
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