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Thompson SS, Kulessa B, Benn DI, et al. Anatomy of terminal moraine segments and implied lake stability on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, from electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Sci Rep. 2017;7:46766doi: 10.1038/srep46766.
Thompson, S. S., Kulessa, B., Benn, D. I., & Mertes, J. R. (2017). Anatomy of terminal moraine segments and implied lake stability on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, from electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Scientific reports, 746766. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46766
Thompson, Sarah S, et al. "Anatomy of terminal moraine segments and implied lake stability on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, from electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)." Scientific reports vol. 7 (2017): 46766. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46766
Thompson SS, Kulessa B, Benn DI, Mertes JR. Anatomy of terminal moraine segments and implied lake stability on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, from electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 20;7:46766. doi: 10.1038/srep46766. PMID: 28425458; PMCID: PMC5397980.
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Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 20;7:46766. doi: 10.1038/srep46766.

Anatomy of terminal moraine segments and implied lake stability on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, from electrical resistivity tomography (ERT).

Scientific reports

Sarah S Thompson, Bernd Kulessa, Douglas I Benn, Jordan R Mertes

Affiliations

  1. College of Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, Wales, UK.
  2. Department of Geology, University Centre in Svalbard, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway.
  3. School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews, UK.
  4. Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 630 Dow Environmental Sciences, 1400 Townsend Dr, Houghton, MI 49930, USA.

PMID: 28425458 PMCID: PMC5397980 DOI: 10.1038/srep46766

Abstract

Moraine-dammed lakes at debris-covered glaciers are becoming increasingly common and pose significant outburst flood hazards if the dam is breached. While moraine subsurface structure and internal processes are likely to influence dam stability, only few sites have so far been investigated. We conducted electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys at two sites on the terminal moraine complex of the Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, to aid assessment of future terminus stability. The resistivity signature of glacier ice at the site (100-15 kΩ m) is more consistent with values measured from cold glacier ice and while this may be feasible, uncertainties in the data inversion introduce ambiguity to this thermal interpretation. However, the ERT data does provide a significant improvement to our knowledge of the subsurface characteristics at these sites, clearly showing the presence (or absence) of glacier ice. Our interpretation is that of a highly complex latero-terminal moraine, resulting from interaction between previous glacier advance, recession and outburst flooding. If the base-level Spillway Lake continues to expand to a fully formed moraine-dammed glacial lake, the degradation of the ice core could have implications for glacial lake outburst risk.

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