Catastrophic Flood Flushing of Sediment, Western Himalaya, Pakistan

Abstract

Catastrophic flooding in the Himalaya is an all too common phenomenon (Hewitt 1968; Goudie et al., 1984) that produces considerable hazard to residents. In recent years we have recognized that such massive movement of water is also a significant factor in eroding sediment from areas of active tectonism. In the Nanga Parbat project, in which a large international group of scientists is focusing on the relations between rapid uplift and deep denudation, we are attempting to map and measure erosion produced by slope failures, glaciers, rivers, and catastrophic flooding throughout Quaternary time. This paper includes information on these processes from both the Nanga Parbat region as well as from Hunza where collateral data have been collected (Figure 1). In this paper we differentiate floods from within glaciers, floods from behind glacier dams, floods from behind slope failure dams, and debris-flow floods induced by torrential rains.KeywordsDebris FlowSlope FailureLast Glacial MaximumGlacial LakeTorrential RainThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.