Recent variations of supraglacial lakes on the Baltoro Glacier in the central Karakoram Himalaya and its possible teleconnections with the pacific decadal oscillation |
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| Authors: | Bijeesh Kozhikkodan Veettil Nilceia Bianchini Ulisses Franz Bremer Éder Leandro Bayer Maier Jefferson Cardia Simões |
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| Institution: | 1. Centro Polar e Climático, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil;2. Centro Estadual de Pesquisas em Sensoriamento Remoto e Meteorologia (CEPSRM), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazilbijeesh.veettil@ufrgs.br;4. Housing and Urban Development Company (CDHU), S?o Paulo, Brazil;5. Centro Estadual de Pesquisas em Sensoriamento Remoto e Meteorologia (CEPSRM), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil;6. Institute of Social and Information Science, Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | This study discusses the formation and variations of supraglacial lakes on the Baltoro glacier system in the central Karakoram Himalaya during the last four decades. We mapped supraglacial lakes on the Baltoro Glacier from 1978 to 2014 using Landsat MSS, TM, ETM + and LCDM images. Most of the glacial lakes were formed or expanded during the late 1970s–2008. After 2008, the total number and the area of glacial lakes were found to be lesser compared to previous years. We tried to find any teleconnections exists between the glacial lake changes in this region and the pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), which entered its prolonged warm regime in the late 1970s and again to its cold regime in 2008, based on observational investigation. The decrease in the number and area of the supraglacial lakes after 2008 is hypothesised to be linked with the recent cold phase of PDO. |
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| Keywords: | Supraglacial lakes Central Karakoram Himalaya PDO Baltoro Glacier Debris-covered glaciers |
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