Space and field-based investigations towards understanding the characteristics and origin of an inhabited rock glacier in NW Himalaya

Pratima Pandey; Md Ataullah Raza  Khan; Sheikh Nawaz Ali

doi:10.54991/jop.2024.1870

Authors

Pratima Pandey Geosciences Department, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dehradun, India
Md Ataullah Raza Khan National Resources Data Management System, Soban Singh Jeena University, Almora, India
Sheikh Nawaz Ali Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2024.1870

Keywords:

Rock glacier, Morphology, Moraine, Relict lake sediments, NW Himalaya

Abstract

The current space and field-based investigation of an important (inhabited) rock glacier (RG) in the north-western (NW) Himalaya aims to comprehend its morphological properties and genesis. Although the RG displays an inactive frontal lobe, small active lobes may be seen in the upper reaches, > 3900 m asl. The permafrost distribution map reveals that the rock glacier contains either discontinuous or sporadic permafrost. We propose that, while the rock glacier does not show indications of an active front, small RG lobes do show movement in the upper reaches. Furthermore, the presence of a well-preserved right lateral moraine implies that this RG originated from a previously glaciated valley and is supported and sustained by a constant supply of talus (rock debris) from the present sedimentary catchment to the northeast. The quick thawing of the RGs will significantly impact and perhaps lead to the complete migration of the inhabitants to other areas.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Abbass K, Qasim MZ, Song H, Murshed M, Mahmood H & Younis I 2022. A review of the global climate change impacts, adaptation, and sustainable mitigation measures. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 29(28): 42539–42559.

Ali SN & Pandey P 2023. Crucial, But not systematically investigated: Rock glaciers, the concealed water reservoirs of the Himalayas: An Opinion. Journal of Atmospheric Science Research 6(2): 33–41.

Ali SN, Quamar MF, Phartiyal B & Sharma A 2018. Need for permafrost research in Indian Himalaya. Journal of Climate Change 4(1): 33–36.

Ali SN, Singh R, Morthekai P, Sharma A, Phartiyal B, Quamar MF, Kumar R & Arora P 2022. Perception of climate change from the Himalayan ‘cold desert’Ladakh, India. Journal of Palaeosciences 71(1): 89–111.

Anderson LS & Anderson RS 2016. Modelling debris–covered glaciers: response to steady debris deposition. The Cryosphere 10(3): 1105–1124.

Angeles LC & Tarbotton R 2001. Local transformation through global connection: Women's assets and environmental activism for sustainable agriculture in Ladakh, India. Women's Studies Quarterly 29(1/2): 99–115.

Arenson LU, Harrington JS, Koenig CE & Wainstein PA 2022. Mountain permafrost hydrology—a practical review following studies from the Andes. Geosciences 12(2): 48.

Barsch DR 1996. Rock glaciers: Indicators for the permafrost and former geoecology in high, mountain environment. Series in the Physical Environment. Berlin, Germany: Springer, p. 331. ISBN: 978–3–642–80095–5

Benn DI & Evans DJ 2010. Glaciers and glaciation (2nd edition). Hodder Education, London, 2010: ISBN 978–0–340–90579–1

Benn DI & Owen LA 2002. Himalayan glacial sedimentary environments: a framework for reconstructing and dating the former extent of glaciers in high mountains. Quaternary International 97: 3–25.

Bhan SC, Devrani AK & Sinha V 2015. An analysis of monthly rainfall and the meteorological conditions associated with cloudburst over the dry region of Leh (Ladakh), India. Mausam 66(1): 107–122.

Cannone N & Gerdol R 2003. Vegetation as an ecological indicator of surface instability in rock glaciers. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 35(3): 384–390.

Corte A 1976. The hydrological significance of rock glaciers. Journal of Glaciology 17(75): 157–158.

Daultrey S & Gergan R 2011. Living with change: adaptation and innovation in Ladakh. Journal of Climate Adaptation 2011: 1–11.

Fuchs G 1975. Contributions to the Geology of the North–Western Himalayas. Geologische Bundesanstalt, Vienna: 65pp.

Fuchs G 1979. On the Geology of Western Ladakh. Jahrbuch Geologische Bundesanstalt (Wien) 122/2: 513–540.

Goehring L, Conroy R, Akhter A, Clegg WJ & Routh AF 2010. Evolution of mud–crack patterns during repeated drying cycles. Soft Matter 6(15): 3562–3567.

Grosse G, Robinson JE, Bryant R, Taylor MD, Harper W, DeMasi A, Kyker–Snowman E, Veremeeva A, Schirrmeister L & Harden J 2013. Distribution of late Pleistocene ice–rich syngenetic permafrost of the Yedoma Suite in east and central Siberia, Russia. US Geological Survey Open File Report 2013(1078): 1–37.

Haeberli W 1985. Creep of mountain permafrost: internal structure and flow of alpine rock glaciers. Mitteilungen der Versuchsanstalt fur Wasserbau, Hydrologie und Glaziologie an der Eidgenossischen Technischen Hochschule Zurich, (77).

Hasnain M 2012. Climate vulnerability and resilience assessment of mountain communities living in the Ladakh Region in India. GERES India. https://www.geres.eu/wp–content/uploads/2019/10/cvra–india–2012.pdf.

Hassinger JM & Mayewski PA 1983. Morphology and dynamics of the rock glaciers in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Arctic and Alpine Research 15(3): 351–368.

Humlum O 1998. The climatic significance of rock glaciers. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 9(4): 375–395.

Humlum O 2005. Holocene permafrost aggradation in Svalbard. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 242(1): 119–129.

Ikeda A & Matsuoka N 2006. Pebbly versus bouldery rock glaciers: Morphology, structure and processes. Geomorphology 73(3–4): 279–296.

Jin H, Huang Y, Bense VF, Ma Q, Marchenko SS, Shepelev VV, Hu Y, Liang S, Spektor VV, Jin X & Li X 2022. Permafrost degradation and its hydrogeological impacts. Water 14(3): 372.

Johnson BG, Thackray GD & Van Kirk R 2007. The effect of topography, latitude, and lithology on rock glacier distribution in the Lemhi Range, central Idaho, USA. Geomorphology 91(1–2): 38–50.

Jones DB, Harrison S & Anderson K 2019. Mountain glacier–to–rock glacier transition. Global and Planetary Change, 181: p.102999.

Jones DB, Harrison S, Anderson K, Shannon S & Betts RA 2021. Rock glaciers represent hidden water stores in the Himalaya. Science of The Total Environment, 793: p.145368.

Kääb A 2013. Rock glaciers and protalus forms. In: Elias SA (Editor)—Encyclopaedia of Quaternary Science, 2nd Edition, Volume 3. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 535–541.

Kääb A, Strozzi T, Bolch T, Caduff R, Trefall H, Stoffel M & Kokarev A 2021. Inventory and changes of rock glacier creep speeds in Ile Alatau and Kungoy Ala–Too, northern Tien Shan, since the 1950s. Cryosphere 15(2): 927–949.

Khan MAR, Singh S, Pandey P, Bhardwaj A, Ali SN, Chaturvedi V & Ray PKC 2021. Modelling permafrost distribution in western Himalaya using remote sensing and field observations. Remote Sensing 13(21): p.4403.

Knight J, Harrison S & Jones DB 2019. Rock glaciers and the geomorphological evolution of deglacierizing mountains. Geomorphology 324: 14–24.

Le–Masson V & Nair K 2012. Does climate modeling help when studying adaptation to environmental changes? the case of Ladakh, India: 75–94. In: Lamadrid A & Kelman I (Editors)—Climate change modelling for local adaptation in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan region. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Lilleøren KS & Etzelmüller B 2011. A regional inventory of rock glaciers and ice‐cored moraines in Norway. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 93(3): 175–191.

Mahéo G, Bertrand H, Guillot S, Villa IM, Keller F & Capiez P 2004. The South Ladakh ophiolites (NW Himalaya, India): an intra–oceanic tholeiitic arc origin with implication for the closure of the Neo–Tethys. Chemical Geology 203(3–4): 273–303.

Matsuoka N & Ikeda A 2001. Geological control on the distribution and characteristics of talus–derived rock glaciers. Annual report of the Institute of Geoscience, the University of Tsukuba 27: 11–16.

Millar CI & Westfall RD 2019. Geographic, hydrological, and climatic significance of rock glaciers in the Great Basin, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 51(1): 232–249.

Nelson FE, Lachenbruch AH, Woo MK, Koster EA, Osterkamp TE, Gavrilova MK & Cheng GD 1993. Permafrost and climate change. In: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Permafrost 2: 987–1005.

Pandey P, Ali SN, Ramanathan AL & Venkataraman G 2017. Regional representation of glaciers in Chandra Basin region, western Himalaya, India. Geoscience Frontiers 8(4): 841–850.

Pandey P, Ali SN & Simon A 2022. Rock glacier Oasis: An alternative for agro‐pastoralism in a changing environment in the Himalayan cold desert. The Geographical Journal 188(4): 585–590.

Phartiyal B, Ali SN, Sharma A, Agrawal S, Nag D, Tiwari P, Kumar M, Morthekai P, Govil P, Thakur B & Bhushan R 2022. Palaeoclimatic variability during last eight millennia from a morainal lake in Zanskar, northwest Himalaya, India. Journal of Palaeosciences 71(1): 75–88.

Reidsma P, Ewert F, Oude–Lansink A & Leemans R 2009. Vulnerability and adaptation of European farmers: a multi–level analysis of yield and income responses to climate variability. Regional Environmental Change 9: 25–40.

Rowan AV, Egholm DL, Quincey DJ & Glasser NF 2015. Modelling the feedbacks between mass balance, ice flow and debris transport to predict the response to climate change of debris–covered glaciers in the Himalaya. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 430: 427–438.

Scherler D, Bookhagen B & Strecker MR 2011. Spatially variable response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change affected by debris cover. Nature geoscience 4(3): 156–159.

Scotti R, Brardinoni F, Alberti S, Frattini P & Crosta GB 2013. A regional inventory of rock glaciers and protalus ramparts in the central Italian Alps. Geomorphology 186: 136–149.

Seppi R, Zanoner T, Carton A, Bondesan A, Francese R, Carturan L, Zumiani M, Giorgi M & Ninfo A 2015. Current transition from glacial to periglacial processes in the Dolomites (South–Eastern Alps). Geomorphology 228: 71–86.

Shroder JF, Bishop MP, Copland L & Sloan VF 2000. Debris‐covered glaciers and rock glaciers in the Nanga Parbat Himalaya, Pakistan. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 82(1): 17–31.

Stephen K 2018. Societal impacts of a rapidly changing Arctic. Current climate change reports 4(3): 223–237.

Tarnocai C & Zoltai SC 1978. Earth Hummocks of the Canadian Arctic and Subarctic. Arctic and Alpine Research 10(3): 581–594.

Thakur VC 1981. Regional framework and geodynamic evolution of the Indus–Tsangpo suture zone in the Ladakh Himalayas. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 72(2): 89–97.

Van–Woerkom T, Steiner JF, Kraaijenbrink PD, Miles ES & Immerzeel WW 2019. Sediment supply from lateral moraines to a debris–covered glacier in the Himalaya. Earth Surface Dynamics 7(2): 411–427.

Wagner T, Seelig S, Helfricht K, Fischer A, Avian M, Krainer K & Winkler G 2021. Assessment of liquid and solid water storage in rock glaciers versus glacier ice in the Austrian Alps. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149593.

Weidenaar M 2013. Rock Glaciers in the eastern Cascades, Washington. Ph.D. Thesis, Central Washington University, Science Honors Research Program.

Whalley WB & Martin HE 1992. Rock glaciers: II models and mechanisms. Progress in physical geography 16(2): 127–186.

Zhao–ping YANG, Yang–hua OU, Xing–liang XU & Wen–bin YANG 2010. Spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture and vegetation coverage of alpine grassland in permafrost area of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Journal of Natural Resources 25(3): 426–434.