Quantifying the surging process of the Kyagar Glacier in the Karakoram using successive digital elevation models and optical satellite images

Abstract

Glacier surges are prevalent in the Karakoram and often threaten local residents by submerging land and initiating secondary disasters. The Kyagar Glacier is well known for its surge history as it frequently blocked the downstream valley, leading to a series of high-magnitude glacial lake outburst floods. Although the surge dynamics of the Kyagar Glacier have been broadly described in the literature, there remains an extensive archive of remote sensing observations that have great potential for revealing specific surge characteristics and their relationship with historic lake outburst floods. We propose a new perspective on quantifying the surging process using successive digital elevation models (DEMs), which could be applied to other sites where glacier surges are known to occur. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer DEMs, High Mountain Asia 8-meter DEMs, and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM were used to characterize surface elevation changes throughout the period from 2000 to 2021.We also used Landsat time series imagery to quantify glacier surface velocities and associated lake changes over the course of two surge events between 1989 and 2021. Using these datasets, we reconstruct the surging process of the Kyagar Glacier in unprecedented detail and find a clear signal of surface uplift over the lower glacier tongue, along with uniformly increasing velocities, associated with the period of surge initiation. Seasonal variations in surface flow are still evident throughout the surge phase, indicating the presence of water at the glacier bed. Surge activity of the Kyagar Glacier is strongly related to the development and drainage of the terminal ice-dammed lake, which is controlled by the drainage system beneath the glacier terminus.