Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs)—Mapping the Hazard of a Threat to High Asia and Beyond - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 324

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Glacier Lake Outburst Floods
(GLOFs)—Mapping the Hazard
of a Threat to High Asia and
Beyond
Manfred F. Buchroithner 1, * and Tobias Bolch 2
INTRODUCTION
Lakes are scenic assets for any high-mountain landscape. They can, however,
also be dangerous. This applies particularly to lakes in the immediate
neighbourhood of or even on glaciers. These lakes are known to be prone
to outbursts due to various reasons, and these high-energy events can be
signifi cant threats to life, property and infrastructure and rather disastrous
along the stretches further down the valleys (Ives 1986, Richardson and
Reynolds 2000, Ives et al. 2010, Han et al. 2013). Globally, the glaciers are in a
general state of retreat, most probably because of climatic warming (WGMS
2008). They often leave behind voids fi lled by melt water called glacial lakes
which tend to burst because of internal instabilities in the natural moraine
dams retaining the lakes (e.g., as a result of hydrostatic pressure, erosion
from overtopping, or internal structural failure) or as a result of an external
trigger such as a rock or ice avalanche, or even earthquake.