GLACIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Siddharth Swaroop
Director
Geological Survey of India
# WHAT ?
# WHY ?
# WHEN ?
# WHERE ?
# HOW ?
WHAT IS A GLACIER ?
•A multi-year accumulation of snowfall in
excess of snowmelt on land
•Resulting in a mass of ice
•At least 0.1 sq km
•Exhibits some evidence of movement in
response to gravity
Glaciers –
Are mass of ice formed
due to the accumulation
of snow at the head
After compaction flows
slowly along the slope
under the influence of
gravity.
Himalayan glaciers are
mostly covered with a thick
blanket of rock debris
(moraines).
A glacier acts like a conveyor
belt that brings the rocks
falling on the glacier surface
Valley glaciers –
Occupy a well defined valley
carved out in the mountain
slope. In general the snout of
valley glaciers are located at a
lower level
Mountain glaciers-
Occupy the mountain slopes
without a well defined
longitudinal valley. Their snout
is usually hanging.
HEAD
ACCUMULATION ZONE
EQUILIBRIUM LINE TRIBUTARY GLACIER
ABLATION ZONE
LATERAL MORAINE
MELT WATER
SNOUT CHANNEL
PROGLACIAL LAKE
TERMINAL MORAINE
NEH NAR GLACIER, J&K
GLACIERS’’’’’’’
GLACIERS ARE OF SIMPLE, COMPOUND BASIN AND COMPOUND BASINS TYPE.
SIMPLE BASIN GLACIER HAVE A SINGLE WELL
DEFINED ACCUMULATION ZONE. SUCH GLACIERS
ARE USUALLY SMALL IN SIZE AND HAVE
MODERATELY LOW THICKNESS. HAMTAH, DUNAGIRI,
ETC.
COMPOUND BASIN GLACIERS HAVE TWO OR MORE
INDIVIDUAL ACCUMULATION BASINS. THESE
GLACIERS ARE RELATIVELY LARGER IN SIZE AND
HAVE CONSIDERABLY HIGH THICKNESS. TIPRA
BANK, TRILOKNATH, ETC
COMPOUND BASINS TYPE GLACIERS ARE FORMED
BY JOINING OF TWO OR MORE COMPOUND BASIN
GLACIERS. THESE GLACIERS ARE THE LARGEST
GLACIERS WITH HUGE THICKNESS. GANGOTRI, BARA
SHIGRI, ETC.
Earliest Record Of Glaciation
Middle Precambrian- 2300 m. yrs ago
(N. America, Africa, Australia)
Poorly dated- Fragmentary evidences
Onset of Pleistocene Refrigeration
1.5 to 2.0 m. years ago
Ice Ages from Precambrian to Quaternary
followed Greatest Periods of Mountain
Building Activity
Quaternary Ice Age
Tertiary Folding Activity
Upper Carboniferous Glaciation
Hercinian Folding Activity
Minor Cold Periods of Silurian
Caledonian Activity
Precambrian Glaciation
Precambrian Mountain Building Activity
Residence Time (RT) - Storage of Water molecules
RT- for- SNOW COVER- Few weeks to six months
PERENNIAL SNOW- Few Years
GLACIER - Few to Thousands of Years
MOUNTAIN GLACIER- 100 TO 1000 Years
POLAR ICE - 10,000 YEARS
including ANTARCTICA- 12,400 Years
Why Glaciers ?
ICE ON EARTH
6
33x 10 km3 of Ice
Of which 90% Antarctica
09% Greenland
01 % Mountains
GLACIATED REGIME OF HIMALAYA
Himalaya is a large mountain system, influencing the
interaction impacts related to climate, hydrology and
environment.
The total spread of Himalaya between Lat. 250 and 350 N
0
and Long. 60 to 1050 E ---- 8.44x106 km2.
The altitudinal distribution of the areas is as under:
Above 5400 m a.s.l. 0.56 x106 km2
Above 3000 m a.s.l. 3.28 x106 km2
Above 1500 m a.s.l. 4.60 x106 km2
Total 8.44 x106 km2
GLACIER RESOURCES OF INDIAN HIMALAYA (GSI)
Inventory Indus Basin No. of Ganga Basin No. of
status glaciers glaciers
Ravi 172 Yamuna 52
Chenab 1278 Bhagirathi 238
Jhelum 133 Alaknanda 407
Beas 277 Ghaghra 271
Detailed
Inventory Satluj 926 Tista 449
(Level 3&4)
Indus 1796 Brahmaputra 161
(Arunachal Pradesh)
Shyok 2658
Kishanganga 222
Regional Gilgit 535
Assessment
(Level 1)
Total 7997 1578
Grand Total 9575
GLACIERS-
Largest Fresh Water Resource
•Occupy about 10% of the earth's land surface
•Hold roughly 77% of its fresh water resource
•More than 96% of glacier ice lies in the Polar
Regions, Antarctica and Greenland
•They feed major rivers with unique run-off
characteristics.
•Hydroelectric Power Purposes
• For Water Resource Management
•Major Runoff ContributionTo Perennial Himalayan Streams
From Melting of Glaciers and Perennial/Seasonal Snow Cover
• About 70% of Annual Flow In Himalayas From Glacier Melt
•Ablation Period = 85% of Annual Melt Runoff
•Identification of Runoff Characteristics of Glaciarized Basin
--- data base for discharge variations vis-à-vis
Meteorological Inputs- Precipitation component
Glacier Melting Melt Runoff component
Suspended sediment transport total suspended
sediment yield
•Assessment of Hydrologic Potential and
Sediment Yield of the Glacierised Basin
•General Hydrologic Information/ Runoff
Characteristics Within Glaciarised Catchments
For ---
Water Resource Management
Hydropower Projects
Irrigation
Flood/Drought Management
Consumptive Use
Serve as proxy for weather and climate parameters
in areas and locations where direct measurements
are not feasible.
Storehouse of unique information about the past
climate and atmospheric composition.
Landforms and sediments produced by glaciers
provide geologic proxies for climate/environmental
change.
As a source of scenic beauty ,glaciers are a major
tourist attraction and source of revenue in many
countries.
WHEN ?
• Summer Observation period
in conjunction with Observation of
Meteorological, glacier ablation,
SSL and other glaciological variables
•Base flow
•Round the clock hourly observations (24X7)
Glacier retreat in Ganga basin (GSI)
Name of glacier Period Average retreat (m/year)
Bandarpunch 1960-1999 25.5
Jaundar Bamak 1960-1999 37.3
Jhajju Bamak 1960-1999 27.6
Tilku 1960-1999 21.9
Gangotri 1935-1996 18.8
Bhrigupanth 1962-1995 16.7
Dunagiri 1992-1997 3.0
[Link].3 (Arwa) 1932-1956 8.3
Bhagirathi Kharak 1962-2001 16.7
Chaurabari 1992-1997 11.0
Pindari 1958-2001 9.4
Chipa 1961-2000 26.9
Meola 1961-2000 34.6
Jhulang 1962-2000 10.5
Ramganga 1962-2002 48.8 #
Nikarchu 1962-2002 9.2
Adikailash 1962-2002 12.8
Poting 1906-1957 5.1
Shankalpa 1881-1957 6.8
Milam 1848-1997 16.7
Burphu 1966-1997 4.8
# Based on the SOI sheet. The snout of Ramganga glacier on aerial
photographs were not discernible as it was snow covered.
Glacier retreat in Indus basin (GSI)
Name of glacier Period Average retreat (m/year)
Chhota Shigri 1962-1995 6.8
Bara Shigri 1906-1995 29.8
Sonapani 1906-1957 17.6
Hamtah 1961-2005 14.4
Miyar 1961-1996 16.4
Triloknath 1968-1996 17.86
Yoche Lungpa 1963-2006 19.53
Mulkila 1963-2006 14.77
Nagpo Tokpo 1962-1998 6.4
Man Talai (Gl. No. 115) 1989-2004 23.3
Sara Umga 1989-2004 43.3
Beas Kund 1963-2003 18.8
Gl. No. 30 1963-2003 13.8
Jobri 1963-2003 2.5
Tal 1963-2005 39.88
Manimahesh 1968-2005 29.05
Machoi 1905-1957 9.62
Likir 1964-1999 10.00
LETS BRAINSTORM !!!
IMPACT OF CLIMATE
CHANGE
LOSS OF ICE RESOURCES
Climate change-reduction in the fresh water reserves in the
form of ice.
As per one of the studies (Haeberli and Hoelzle, 1995)
Rising temperature - Enhanced precipitation, including solid
precipitation in the higher reaches- Eventually neutralize the
effect of reduction in the ice volume.
The temperature data from SASE suggest that the
temperature in the accumulation zone of the glaciers has
shown reducing trend which also corroborates the above
contention.
SILT LOAD AND DEBRIS PRODUCTION
The sediment load of
2000-05
120
Himalayan rivers is about 100
25 times more than the
Average daily suspended sediment (tonnes)
1995-96
80
world average.
1984-92
60
1981-88
1981-91
Due to the continued
1974-83
40
recession more and more
1974-84
20
areas will be available for 0
generation of debris and
Gara
Rulung
Garang
Shaune
Hamtah
Garang
Neh Nar
Dunagiri
Triloknath
Tipra Bank
Gor
silt load, thus leading to
problems for HE projects.
The rising tree line and denser vegetation due to higher
temperature and rainfall may, to some extent, reduce the
impact provided the mountain ecology is managed more
effectively.
• How is the Himalayan cryosphere responding to
these direct and indirect forcings?
• What are the hydrological, biological and social
impacts of these changes?
• What should be the observational strategies to
capture these forcings, measure changes and build
process/prognostic models?
• What are the options to mitigate the impact of
global warming or local climate variations to sustain
the Himalayan environment?
