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Hydrodynamics of a Supraglacial Lake and Its Effect on the Basin Expansion: Tsho Rolpa, Rolwaling Valley, Nepal Himalaya Author(s): Kazuhisa Chikita, Jageshwar Jha and Tomomi Yamada Source: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Feb., 1999), pp. 58-70 Published by: INSTAAR, University of Colorado Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1552623 . Accessed: 08/08/2013 05:39
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Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 31, No. 1, 1999, pp. 58-70

of a Supraglacial Lake andItsEffect ontheBasin Hydrodynamics Expansion: Tsho Rolpa, Rolwaling Valley, Nepal Himalaya
Kazuhisa Chikita
Division of Earthand Planetary Sciences (Geophysics), Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University,Sapporo,060-0810 Japan. chikita@HYDRO.sci.hokudai.ac.jp.

Abstract
The thermal structure and hydrodynamics of supraglacial Tsho Rolpa Lake (27?51'N, 86?29'E) in the Nepal Himalaya were examined in the premonsoon of 1996. We continuously measured flow velocity, water temperature, and turbidity with moored self-recording current meters, temperature data loggers, and turbidimeters. Vertical measurements (every 0.2 m in depth) of water temperature and turbidity were also made by lowering a self-recording sonde. Tsho Rolpa Lake (surface area, 1.39 km2 at present) has increased in size since late 1950s (surface area, 0.23 km2 in 1958) by both glacial ice melt below the lake bottom and the retreat of the glacier terminus. Lake stratification is defined by suspended sediment concentration (SSC) rather than by temperature. The suspended sediment is mostly silt and clay (d < 15.6,Lm), which is supplied by the meltwater discharge from a subaqueous tunnel portal into the lake at the glacier terminus. The sediment is transported to the deepest zone of the lake by underflows and diffused by advection by the other currents into the upper zone. The observations revealed that a diurnal valley wind produces a vertical water circulation in the quasiisopycnal surface layer, which is about 27 m deep. This circulation transports the surface water, heated mostly by solar radiation, toward the glacier terminus and consequently forces relatively warm water (>-5?C) into continual contact with the glacier terminus. This warm water contact could induce calving of the upper glacier-ice by increasingly melting the subaqueous lower part.

Jageshwar Jha
Waterand EnergyCommission Secretariat, Ministryof Water Resources,P.O.Box 1340, Singha Kathmandu, Darbar, Nepal.

Tomomi Yamada
Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University,Sapporo, 060-0819 Japan.

Introduction
There are many supraglaciallakes on the terminiof debriscovered glaciers in the Nepal Himalaya. Although the lakes appear to be dammed by end and lateral moraines, they are nevertheless supraglaciallakes, because they are underlainby glacier ice, or dead ice with debris. Tsho Rolpa Lake (water level, 4580 m above sea level) is one of such supraglaciallakes. It is now in danger of outburst(Yamada, 1993). Topographical,hydrological, and thermalconditions of the lake have been investigated by Mool et al. (1993), Kadota (1994), Sakai (1995), Yamada (1996), and Chikita et al. (1996b, 1997). Tsho Rolpa Lake (surface area; 1.39 km2 in 1994) has exGlacier. panded rapidly on the terminal part of the Trakarding The lake area was only 0.23 km2 in 1958 when the Survey of India performeda topographicsurvey. For the period September 1993 through June 1994, the maximum rate of the lake-basin expansion is 0.18 m d-l at the glacier terminus (Chikita et al., 1996b). Chikita et al. (1997) reportedon close relationshipbetween lake hydrodynamicsand basin expansion. These authors found that the lake-currentsystem could build the thermalstructure which is responsible for the ice-melt beneath the lake and the glacier-ice loss at the terminus.In the present study, the lake hydrodynamicswill be shown systematically,and their great effect on the lake-basinexpansion,especially the uplakeexpansion toward the glacier snout, will be emphasized.

Area and Methods Study

SupraglacialTsho Rolpa Lake (27?51'N, 86?29'E)is located at 4580 m a.s.l. in the Himalayanregion of the TamaKosi River,
58 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC, AND ALPINE RESEARCH

Eastern Nepal, and is in contact with the cliff-shaped terminus of debris-coveredTrakarding Glacier (the Lower TrambauGlacier) at its upper end (Fig. 1). The drainagebasin including the lake is 77.6 km2 in area (Sakai, 1995), and consists of Precambrian sedimentary and metamorphicrocks and volcanic intrusions of various periods. The maximum and mean depths of the lake were 131 and 55.1 m, respectively, in 1994. The supraGlacier tongue, and glacial lake has developed in the Trakarding is borderedby the steeply sloping lateral moraine (25-80?) and the partially ice-cored end moraine (Yamada, 1996). The outer slope (8.5-16.7?) of the end moraine is about 150 m high. The lake bottom topography(Fig. 2; Kadota, 1994) suggests that the lateral and downlake expansions are almost completed with a limited amount of glacial ice remainingbelow the lake bottom. There is a bottom channel extending from a tunnel mouth at the glacier terminus, which was probably formed by locally large glacier-meltby water dischargefrom the tunnel mouth (Yamada, 1996). The field survey in the lake was carriedout from 27 May to 9 June 1996 duringthe premonsoonseason. We continuously measured flow velocity, water temperature,and turbidity with moored self-recordingcurrentmeters, temperature data loggers, and turbidimeters. Verticalmeasurements(every 0.2 m in depth) of water temperature and turbiditywere also made by lowering a self-recording sonde with water proof to 500 m (TCTD Profiler). The sonde automaticallyrecordedwater temperature by a platinumthermometerand turbidityby a turbiditysensor of infrared ray back-scatteringtype, in response to a signal sent at every 0.2 m in depth by a water pressuregauge. Figure 2 shows the location of observation sites on the
? 1999 Regents of the University of Colorado 1523-0430/99 $7.00

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(.

6611 m Tsho Rolpa Glacier Lake Tengi Ragi Tau 6943 m

6259 n

6666 m

3km FIGURE 1. Drainage basin of Tsho Rolpa Lake and its location in the Eastern Nepal (partially modified after Sakai, 1995).

bathymetric map. Sites J, H, A, and MD are located along the thalweg of the elongated lake basin. Site G is situated about 260 m from the glacier terminus. Sites HB and HC are stations only used for obtaining vertical profiles of water temperature and turbidity. At each of sites H, A, and G, a self-recording electromagnetic current meter with a thermistor sensor (accuracy of +0.5 cm s-~ for horizontal current speed, +3? for horizontal current direction, and +0.1?C for temperature), the turbidimeter (accuracy of +0.04 g L-1), and two to four temperature data loggers (accuracy of +0.15?C or +0.2?C) were fixed by using mooring sandbag-buoy-swivel systems (Fig. 3). At site G, the mooring system was fixed in the bottom channel (62.2 m in depth) that extends from the glacier terminus. At sites J and MD,

two and four temperature data loggers were moored, respectively. Flow velocity, turbidity, and water temperature were recorded at 10- or 15-min intervals. At all the sites in Figure 2, vertical measurements of water temperature and turbidity were carried out by lowering the TCTD Profiler (model ASTB200-P-64K, Alec Electronics Co., Ltd.; accuracy of +0.05?C for temperature and +0.04 g L-l for turbidity). At site G, vertical profiles were obtained at about 30 m distant from the bottom channel (43.4 m in depth), in order that a rope of the profiler does not get twisted round the mooring ropes (Fig. 3). Turbidity values from the TCTD Profiler were converted into suspended sediment concentration (SSC; g L-~), by using a relation between turbidity and SSC of lake water
K. CHIKITA ET AL. / 59

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0
I aI

1km

FIGURE 2. Site location for the observation of 27 May to 9 June 1996 on the bathymetric map of supraglacial Tsho Rolpa Lake (partially modified after Kadota, 1994).

sampled simultaneously (Fig. 4). Suspended sediment concentration was obtained by filtering 50 to 80 ml of water samples with millipore filters of 0.45-jim opening and then drying the filters at room temperature. As a result, we obtained a significant correlation (R2 = 0.8823 or 0.8864) between turbidity and SSC. Turbidity from the three self-recording turbidimeters (sites H, A, and G) was also converted into SSC using Figure 4, because the type and measuring range (0-2 g L-~) of the turbidity sensor are identical with those of the TCTD Profiler. Lake water level and water discharge at an outlet (site R in Fig. 2) and meteorology at site M have been recorded every 1 h since June 1993 by Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Ministry of Water Resources, Nepal. Hydrology of the lake is discussed in detail by Yamada (1996).

Results andDiscussion
METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS Figure 5 shows meteorological data recorded at site M for a period 15 May to 15 June 1996. Before 31 May, surface air temperature remained around 0?C or less, being much colder than in the same period of 1995 reported by Chikita et al. (1997).

The heavy rainfalls after 11 June mark the beginning of the monsoon season of 1996. Wind speed, air temperature, and solar radiation exhibit clear diurnal variations. The daytime rainfall of 2 and 5 June considerably decreased the solar radiation. Except for these 2 d, however, solar radiation provided a stable heat supply for lake warming. Most of the radiative heat could be absorbed at the lake surface because of the low albedo of less than 0.05. The sensible heat flux is relatively small but responsible for cooling the lake, because the lake surface remains about 5?C or more. The water temperature is higher than air temperature except on the daytime of 31 May. Atmospheric pressure varies semidiurally with maximums at about 1100 and 2200 h and with minimums at about 0300 and 1500h. The wind behaviors correspond to the variation of atmospheric pressure: a weak mountain (southeast to southsoutheast) wind blew typically at less than 1 m s-' during the increased air pressure at 0300-0800 h, while a relatively strong valley (northwest to north-northwest) wind prevailed at 2 to 7 m s-' during the decreased pressure at 1000-1900 h. Both the winds thus prevailed in the longitudinal direction over the lake (see Fig. 2). It should be noted that the strong valley wind blows toward the glacier terminus which contacts directly with the lake

ValleyWind

* Temperature DataLogger

Meter 0 Current
i Turbidimeter o Swivel _; on Bottom Sandbag

Buoy

FIGURE 3. Sandbag-buoyswivel systems for mooring current meters, turbidimeters and temperature data loggers at sites J, H, A, MD, and G.

60 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC,AND ALPINE RESEARCH

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1.4 1.2 i ;,, -

^~~~~1.~~~2
0 1

+ 0.2956 y= 1.1486x |8 ..-| ....R20.8864.

of the TCTD profiler, in the morning and afternoon of 2 June 1996. Here a is defined by the following equations:
( (Prc1000) x 10

(1)
(2)

0,8

-----------------

Pr = (1 C/p,)pT + C
--

>-!

0.6

3 0 30. y=fty 4. ~'~x

.~ 0. ~ 0.4 30-4 S H -0.2 /

xSO.2a4 / x0.204
y =25999x R2 =0.8823

.*g

'I

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

where PTcis the water density in kg m-3 with suspended sediment concentration, C (g L-1) at temperature,T (?C), Ps is the density of suspended sediment (=2730 kg m-3 for Tsho Rolpa sediment), and pTis the pure water density at T. Dissolved solids in lake water were here neglected because observed values were less than 0.001 g L-1, thus being much less than the observed
lowest SSC (0.05 g L-1).

(g L'1),x SuspendedSedimentConcentration

FIGURE 4. Relation between turbidity (g L-1) of the TCTD Profiler and suspended sediment concentration (SSC; g L-1) of lake water sampled simultaneously. Two regression lines and their correlation coefficients, R are shown.

water. This wind may produce waves at the surface and winddriven currents in the surface layer. Taking the water depths of the lake into account, the wind waves could be deep-water gravity waves with circular motions of water particles, which are ineffective for the mass or heat transport(e.g., Mehaut6, 1976). The waves would produce some glacier-melt near the lake surface, only when they collide with the glacier terminus.The winddriven currents are likely to effectively transportthe absorbed radiative heat toward the glacier terminus because of the long fetch (about 3 km) for the valley wind. The wind-driven currents could thus be responsible for melting the subaqueous portions of the glacier terminus by putting relatively warm lake water in contact with glacier ice.
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATER PROPERTIES

Figures 6 and 7 show longitudinal distributions of water temperature,suspended sediment concentration(SSC), and water density in situ (ar),based on the temperatureand turbidity data
N

A comparison between Figures 6 and 7 allows us to recognize changes of thermal, SSC, and density structuresin about 7 h of the daytime. The time period of 0835-1019 h corresponds to the early stage of time when the lake surface starts to absorb the solar radiation and a valley wind starts to blow, while that of 1544-1708 h corresponds to the late time for the solar radiation and valley wind. The weak pycnocline lay at about 27 m in depth (see the isopleths of r= 0.751 and in Figs 6c and 7c), while the metalimnion (a layer with a relatively great temperature gradient) existed at depths of 15 to 28 m with the thermocline (point of the greatest temperaturegradient in the metalimnion) at about 25 m (Figs. 6a, 7a). A quasipycnal layer above the pycnocline was probably produced through mixing by the valley wind. Meantime, in the mixed layer, the wind generated the horizontal gradients of water temperature (see the isotherms of 4.6-5.1?C) and r (see the isopleth of 0.5) toward the glacier front, even though there was no gradient in SSC. This indicates that in the mixed layer, a, depends on water temperature rather than SSC because of the low SSC less than 0.15 g L-l. As noted by isotherms 5?C, in the afternoon the warm water zone in the surface layer extended downlake, and the temperature gradient increased toward the glacier terminus, especially between sites MD and G. This indicates heat transport toward the glacier terminus and the consequent net heat storage in front of the glacier terminus by

Wind Vector (Leeward)

5ms1

- 595

E 590 | 585 /d v 580

<

1600

.E
1200 _ *

800

. kO . .\ L-L 0
1 5 -10 I. -10 15

LL

._
m

10

5 1
0

5/15 5/15

5/19

5/23

5/27

5/31
1996

6/4

6/8

6/12

6/16

5. Meteorological FIGURE conditions observed every 1 h at site M for 15 May to 15 June 1997.

K. CHIKITA ET AL. / 61

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GlacierFront

4,

51

20
14 0

6
,(D

8
+-

10

12 140 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200

Distance (m)

E
Q '

I,
11 a

400

800

1200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

Distance (m)

I-

140 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400

2800

3200

Distance (m)

FIGURE 6. Longitudinal distributions of (a) water temperature, (b) SSC, and (c) water density in situ, a, obtained by the TCTD Profiler at 08351019 h on 2 June 1996. Isopleth interval: (a) 0.1?C, (b) 0.05 g L-1, and (c) 0.25.

means of wind-driven currents from the valley wind. The winddriven currents could thus enhance ice-melt at the underwater part of the glacier terminus and the consequent calving of the upper aerial part (Chikita et al., 1997). Cold lake water at less than 5?C produced by the glacier contact would plunge in front of the glacial cliff and then move downlake near the pycnocline
62 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC, AND ALPINE RESEARCH

(about 25 m in depth at site G) as countercurrents compensating for the upper wind-driven currents. Below the pycnocline, the distribution patterns of SSC are similar to those of r. It is thus seen that the water density depends on SSC rather than temperature. The high SSC zone (0.5 g L-1 or more) near the bottom from site G through site A sug-

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J
0 20 I60
0 4,

MD

G
4,

GlacierFront
4

40

03 :: 100. 120 140. 0

400

800

1200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

Distance (m)

20 40

E
60
0
ci

-160

, 80

^ mn

140 0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200

Distance (m)

20 40
-

1-

-5-

60S

80

80

(c)

~'^
25 FIGURE 7. Longitudinal distributions of (a) water temperature, (b) SSC and (c) water density in situ, o, obtained by the TCTD Profiler at 15441708 h on 2 June 1996. Isopleth interval: (a) 0.1?C, (b) 0.05 g L-', and (c) 0.25.

100 Water Density in situ: 120 140 0

=(p TC- 1000)xl
I

0 J11

1 400

800

1200

1600

2000

2 2400

2800

3200

Distance (m)

gests that sediment-laden underflows occur in front of the glacier terminus, due to the ice-melt sediment discharge from a mouth of englacial tunnels, and then go downslope to the deepest point (Yamada, 1996; Chikita et al., 1997). Assuming that the upper interface of the underflows corresponds to the isopleth of 0.5 g L-1, the flow thickness is about 21-24 m at site MD (Figs. 6b,

7b). Suspended sediment transported by the underflows is mostly silt and clay of 0.7 to 15.6Vxm diameter (Yamada, 1996). The slow settling velocity of 2.6 x 10-7 to 1.3 X 10-4 m s-1 could cause some stagnation of suspension and thus strong stratification near the bottom. Sediment-laden underflows tend to transport relatively cold water because of its generation from ice-melt K. CHIKITA ET AL. / 63

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LeftCoast A C o
\ ,

HB 4 X i 4

+
A5 4.5 ~X

HC

RightCoast

4,^
I

10 ,^-20

, =4.

i
:

!
/

3.5
3
-.

3.5 2.5 2.5

,1 30 40 50 60
70

2.5

(a)
\ C
\ ./

WaterTemperature ( C)^---____
t I I

I ,

II

I ,

I I

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450 450

400

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300 HB 4.

250

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0 RightCoast 41
/

Distance (m)
LeftCoast 0
10 -

,20

0.1

I
330 40 i0
R 50 60 70 0 451 0.3 0.3'-0.25 SuspendedSe'diment u.3 . 3 Concentration -~--.3=0.3~"'i(g , L')
v

-0.1

---i u.
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0.2
/

(b)

/ I'

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I

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350

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Distance(m)
LeftCoast 0 A x HB 4 RightCoast 4

'~\\~~~~~~
10 20 30 40
\ /

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1i

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.
0.8 \

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I I

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.2
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/

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X 60 - WaterDensityin situ: '\ = (p TC-IOOO)XIO 10 70 300 450 400 350

I I I I I[

1.6 F6--1.6 1.4 1.62 -1.6

I I

,1.62
I I I

250

200

150

100

50

Distance (m)
water discharge. The cold zone (< 2.3?C) at depths of more than 80 m is thus continued by the stagnation of suspension supplied by the underflows. There are many isoplethic peaks of temperature at 2.4 and 2.5?C at depths of 30 to 60 m between sites G and A. In Figure 6a, these relatively cold peaks appear to horizontally move from near the glacier front and, in Figure 7a, to reach to depths of 30 64 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC,AND ALPINE RESEARCH

FIGURE 8. Distributions of water temperature, SSC, and water density in situ, a, in the transverse section of sites HC, H, and HB, observed at 07220749 h on 6 Junel996. Isopleth interval: (a) 0.1?C, (b) 0.05 g L-', and (c) 0.2.

to 60 m at sites H and J. The relatively cold zone of 2.4 to 2.5?C near site G could be formed by the mixing between the glaciercooled surface water and inflowing ice-melt water. The horizontal movement is considered to have occurred as part of countercurrents through vertical momentum transfer, resulting from the weak density stratification at depths of less than 60 m (see Figs. 6c and 7c). The average speed of the horizontal currents is es-

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N (a) WindVelocity 5 m s-1

siL

2.8

-.-....

- u 2.6 a )- 2.4 m 2.2 2

-......

l 0.5

-o ,-- 0.4
o 0.1 0.0 o 0 0.0

o .o 0.3 0 0.2

. . ..

. -----

. 6/8 6/9 6/10

......... ...........................................

|
:t

-------------------d-------------------------

5/ /28

5/29

5/30

5/31

6/1

6/2

6/3

6/4

6/5

6/6

6/7

1996

FIGURE 9. Time series of (a) wind velocity at site M, (b) flow velocity and water temperature recorded at 1.5 m above the bottom at site G, and (c) suspended sediment concentration at 3 m above the bottom at site G. (a), (b), and (c) are described by the data obtained at 1-h, 10-min, and 15-min intervals, respectively.

timated at about 0.05 m s-' by comparison of Figures 6a and 7a. Isoplethic peaks of SSC (0.25 and 0.35 g L-1) or (r (1.25 and 1.75) between sites G and MD suggest that the water at about 50 and 60 m in depth plunges into the relatively turbid or heavy deeper zone and then intrudes horizontally at 65 and 75 m of site MD, respectively (see Figs. 6b, 6c, 7b, and 7c). These currentshave the relatively low speed of about 0.02 m s-~. The plungings probably indicate the movement of downward compensation currents in the weakly stratified zone which are initiated from the entrainment at the upper interface of sedimentladen underflows. Some local minimums on the vertical SSC profiles reported by Yamada (1996) were probably built up by these relatively clear currents intruding at some depths. As shown by the isopleths of C = 0.4 g L-~ or c = 2.5 in Figures 7b and 7c, the relatively low SSC (or cr) zone appeared at a depth of about 100 m at downlake from site MD. This unstable condition was probably also produced by the downward compensation currents and their subsequent intrusion. The above currents shown by temperatureor SSC (or cr) isopleths thus do not correspond to density interflows driven only by the pressure gradient between the source and frontal snout of the flows (for interflows, e.g., see Hamblin and Carmack, 1978). The effect of Coriolis deflection on the movement of the countercurrentsor intruding currentsis estimated by the Rossby number Ro = U/fL, where U is the speed of interflows, f is the Coriolis parameter,and L is the horizontal basin scale in transect at the depth where an interflow intrudes. The Coriolis deflection is not completely negligible for the Tsho Rolpa currents, since
R, = 1.0-1.5, giving f= 6.81 X 10-5 rad s-, U = 0.02-0.05

warm water at more than 4.5?C is biased on the right side. This is probably due to the relative strong mixing of the surface layer
by a valley wind centered on the right side on the previous day

(5 June). At depths more than 55 m, as shown by the isopleths of C = 0.3 g L- and cr =1.6, the water of relatively high SSC and r lies on the right side. This is probably caused by the position of turbid meltwater inflow biased to the right at the glacier terminus (see Fig. 2).
CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT OF FLOW VELOCITY AND WATER PROPERTIES

m s-1 and L = 300-500 m. Figure 8 shows distributionsof temperature,SSC, and crin the transverse section along sites HC, H, and HB at 0722-0749 h on 6 June. At the early time, the lake surface did not yet receive the solar radiation. At depths less than 15 m, relatively

As shown by Figures 6 and 7, the density structureof the lake above the pycnocline (about 27 m in depth) is controlled by water temperature,where SSC is about 0.15 g L-1 or less. Below the pycnocline, however, the water density is dominated by SSC as SSC increases with increasing depth, especially near the bottom. Near the pycnocline, the lake exhibits a marked change in temperaturerather than in SSC. Continuous temperature records near the pycnocline could thus indicate the windbuilt setup or internal free oscillations such as internal seiche; continuous SSC records near the pycnocline or below probably shows temporal variations based on dynamic behaviors of intruding currents or underflows. Figure 9 shows (a) wind velocity at site M, (b) flow velocity and water temperatureat 1.5 m above the bottom (60.7 m depth) at site G, and (c) SSC at 3 m above the bottom (59.2 m depth) at site G from 28 May to 10 June. The records in Figures 9b and 9c likely indicates the dynamic behavior of glacier meltwater discharging from a subaqueoustunnel mouth at the glacier terminus. As shown by the meteorological data in Figure 5, air temperature abruptly increased to above 0?C on 31 May, and then gradually decreased until 4 June to just less than 0?C. The water temperatureand SSC records show that in response to the gradual decrease of air temperatureto above 0?C, sediment discharge from glacier-melt diurnally occurred for 1 to 4 June with
K. CHIKITA ET AL. / 65

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Outlet 0 20 40 60 80I 100 120 140 0 400

J 4,

H 4I

A I19

MD

GlacierFront 4,

E
+

800

1200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200 GlacierFront 4,

Distance (m)

lcJ
C11

k-

140 0 Outlet
.1

400 J 1
i

800

1200

1600 A

2000

2400

2800

3200

Distance (m)
0
20

H 4
T I T

MD
4' I ? --0.5..

G
4

4s
t1X -1

GlacierFront

1? ^

E
Ct

40
l.

60

t-~--lc

v 80 0
: 100

(c)

^/M3t~
Water Density in situ: TC- 1000) X 10 =(
, I 1 ,. I 1 -

~
~ature,

120
140

/'*Sy~~7

400

800

1200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

Distance (m)

FIGURE 10. Longitudinal distributions of (a) water temper(b) SSC, and (c) water density in situ, or, obtained by the TCTD Profiler at 07351041 h on 5 June 1996. Isopleth interval: (a) 0.1?C, (b) 0.05 g L-', and (c) 0.25.

a gradual decrease of the SSC. The maximum SSC during the sediment discharge appeared at 1530-1615 h. The cold conditions on 4 June, however, probably induced the irregularvariations of SSC on 5 June. An increase of air temperatureto above 0?C on the daytime of 5 to 7 June raised the diurnal sediment discharge with relatively high SSC for 6 to 8 June. The glacier66 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC, AND ALPINE RESEARCH

melt discharge thus appears to be sensitive to the sensible heat rather than the solar radiation. The water temperature remained in the range 2.3 to 2.5?C after 1 June. The inflowing meltwater probably is at 0?C because it discharges through tunnels inside the glacier. The temperature records at site G thus indicate the consequence of mixing with

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N (a)
\It\\,, vXlxi

WindVelocity

5m s-1

(b) FlowVelocity

N 3 cms

--~~~-~~r c~~e`
\----

~
c"J

~
I

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sr

Tt"I"

--

yrmV-w
4.4 u 4.2
Q 4
. I I I I

^ I
I

e 3.8

S 3.6
4 3.4
5 3.2 3 5/28
I I I I I I I I I I

5/29

5/30

5/31

6/1

6/2

6/3

6/4

6/5

6/6

6/7

6/8

6/9

6/10

1996

FIGURE 11. Time series of (a) wind velocity at 1-h intervals at site M, and (b) flow velocity and water temperature recorded every 10 min at a depth of 25.4 m at site A.

the lake water,especially the downwelling surface water,in front of the glacier terminus. The flow-velocity records in Figure 9b indicate that corresponding to the high SSC on 1 to 4 June, lake currents were strengthened southwestward to northwestward,thus downslope at site G (see Fig. 2). This suggests that sediment-laden underflows were producedby the glacier-melt sediment discharge. The underflows are driven by the product of downslope buoyant gravity and layer thickness (Chikita et al., 1991, 1996a). During the high SSC for 5 to 9 June, lake currentswere weak at 0.9 to 2 cm s-1 south-southwestwardto northwestward.During the low and increasing SSC, however, flow velocity remained high at 2 to 6 cm s-~ south-southeastward to east-southeastwardand northeastward to north-northeastward, respectively. These flow directions have the component toward the glacier terminus. The strong currents then changed their directions in response to the wind directions shown in Figure 9a. This suggests that vertical momentum transfer by countercurrentsin the vertical water circulation occurred up to near the bottom of site G, and that lake currentsproduced by the momentum transferinteract with meltwater discharge from the tunnel mouth. In fact, as shown by isopleths of or = 1.25 to 1.75 in the density structureof 5 June (Fig. 10), the density stratificationwas weakened at depths of 40 to 60 m between sites G and MD (cf. Figs. 6, 7). During the observation time of 0735-1041 h, SSC was relatively great at 0.2 to 0.3 g L-1 (see Fig. 9b). The decline of stratificationand the consequent deepening of vertical momentum transferare due to the extension of relatively clear zone at uplake of site MD (Fig. lOb), irrespective of the continuation of glacier-melt sediment discharge for 2 to 5 June. This suggests that the water entrainmentat the upper interface of sediment-ladenunderflows increased as the underflows was strengthenedwith sediment discharge. Figure 11 shows time series of (a) wind velocity at site M and (b) flow velocity and water temperatureat a depth of 25.4 m at site A. The thermocline at site A was then located at a

depth of about 25 m (Figs. 6a, 7a). It is evident that current vectors respond in opposite directions to wind velocity. Water temperature then decreased with increasing flow speed. These indicate that countercurrentsoccur in a system of the vertical water circulation during the leeward transportof surface water, and that the leeward water displacement simultaneously induces the upwind lift of the lower cold water (e.g., see Mortimer, 1952). Continuous records of flow velocity and water temperature at site H (19.7 m depth) showed that as the valley wind speed increases, a northwestwardflow is strengthened with decreasing water temperature.The flow direction corresponds to the longitudinal downlake at site H (see Fig. 2). Figure 12 shows temperatureand SSC records at (a) 80.4 m depth of site A and at (b) 39.7 m depth of site H. The depth of site H is located in the relatively turbid zone below the metalimnion (Figs. 6, 7), and thus the amplitude (0.16?C) of the temperaturevariation is smaller than that at site A (Fig. 11). As the valley wind is strengthenedin the morning, the temperature at site H decreases and the SSC increases. This means that the uplift of the lower water (relatively cold and turbid water) diurnally occurs accompanying the upwind uplift of the thermocline or pycnocline which is due to the leeward displacement of surface water toward the glacier terminus. The measuring points near the thermocline at sites H and A are thus located at downlake of a nodal line, where the thermocline or pycnocline does not oscillate. Meantime, the 80.4 m records at site A exhibit nonvariation in temperatureand higher frequency in SSC. The spectral analysis by the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform)method revealed that SSC at site A and site G (Fig. 9c) oscillates with periods of 6 h, 4 h and 2 h rather than 24 h. The water motion at site A is thus probably related to the intruding currents starting at near site MD (see Figs. 6b, 7b) or the surrounding water motions, since the currents are continued from the downward compensation currents connected to the entrainment by sediment-laden underflows. The constant temperature(2.30?C) at 80.4 m of site
K. CHIKITA ET AL. / 67

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U O

3.0 2.8

0.5

(a)

i k

IS

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/.-.,

'

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0.3 0.2 -------------------------Water Temp.

0.1 0.0 m
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..

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| I

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\ ssc :

. ....... ..................................... 0.2

0.1 0.0

: 2.0 2.0 5/28 5/29 5/30 5/31

6/1

6/2

6/3 6/4 1996

6/5

6/6

6/7

6/10

FIGURE 12. Time series of water temperature and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) recorded at 10-min intervals (a) at a depth of 80.4 m at site A and (b) at a depth of 39.7 m at site H.

A indicates the stagnation of water transported by the intruding currents probably with SSC of more or less 0.35 g L-~. Meanwhile, water temperature at a depth of 114.4 m (1 m above the bottom) at site A and at a depth of 76 m at site MD also kept constant at 2.25 and 2.47?C, respectively (Fig. 13). The stagnation of water transported by intruding currents thus occurs consistently in the deep zone. With increasing valley-wind velocity, water temperature at 27 m depth (bottom) of site J decreased more greatly than that at 14 m with a time lag of about 3 h (Fig. 13a). This is because the leeward setup makes the thermocline lift in the downlake region of site MD, and also the 27 m depth is relatively near the thermocline (see Figs. 6a, 7a). The vertical water circulation

system is thus likely to prevail longitudinally in the surface layer. Hence, a thermal condition on the bottom, related to the fossilice melt in the end moraine, is possibly determined by the lake hydrodynamics such as the leeward setup and the simultaneous vertical circulation. At 130 m depth (1 m above the bottom) of site MD, a slight variation in temperature is seen with a range of 2.39 to 2.44?C (Fig. 13b). As noted by the isopleth of 2.3?C in Figures 6a, 7a, and lOa, the temperature near the bottom of site MD varies temporarily in spite of the interior of sediment-laden underflows. This indicates that sediment-laden underflows have unsteady and nonuniform vertical temperature. Hence, the temperature variation in Figure 13b suggests a weak water motion by sediment-

5 G 4.5
-

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3
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I 1 n. above Bot. (MD)

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B.ttom

1 r above Bot. (A)

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5/28 5/29

5/30 5/31

6/1

6/2

6/3 1996

6/4

6/5

6/6

6/7

6/8

6/9

6/10

FIGURE 13. Time series of water temperature at 10-min intervals (a) at depths of 14.0 m and 27.0 m (bottom) at site J, and (b) at a depth of 69.7 m (bottom) at site H, at depths of 114.4 m (1 m above the bottom) and 115.4 m (bottom) at site A and at depths of 76.0 m, 130 m (1 m above the bottom) and 131 m (bottom) at site MD.

68 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC, AND ALPINE RESEARCH

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Debris Southeastern wind atglacier front Calving

I
Solar radiation Outflow
4--

Wind-driven currents

Setup

Crevasse

Meltwater discharge
froma tunnelmouth

ice Glacial

.y

Glacial debris Sediment-laden underflows

' f'? 9 '/

Glacial debris // //

./ Glacialice
/ // /

FIGURE 14. Conceptual model of the lake-currentsystem. Sediment-ladenunderflowscould produce the subaqueous outwash by great sediment deposition near the tunnel mouth.Selective deposition of suspended sediment from the upper would be prevalent on the bottom under no influence of the underflows. It is unknown how the bedrock and the glacial ice below the bottom debris are distributed. laden underflows which reached to the deepest zone (see also Figs. 6, 7). The bottom temperatureat sites MD, A, and H remains constant at 2.29, 2.20, and 2.37?C, respectively, and thus the water motion appears to be negligible due to the bottom friction. Hence, the bottom thermalconditions are probablycontrolled by weak or nearly molecular heat diffusion. from the mixing zone near the glacier terminus. The currents could affect bottom thermal conditions downlake by plunging into the deeper zone. (4) The meltwater and sediment discharge from the mouth of englacial tunnels induce sediment-laden underflows and relatively clear downward compensation currents, which controls the thermal structurebelow the pycnocline through the transport and stagnation of suspension. The strong stratificationby SSC produces stable thermal conditions of more than 0?C on the bottom. This could contributeto the ice-melt below the lake bottom by weak or nearly molecular heat diffusion in the lake and heat conductivity in porous sediment-watermedia. The lake sedimentation could be produced by sedimentladen underflows and/or suspended-sedimentfalling from upper levels of the lake (Fig. 14). In order to estimate the rate of icemelt below the lake bottom except for the glacier terminus, it is necessary to know the thicknesses of lake sediment and the lower debris-watermixture.

Conclusions
Vertical and continuous measurementsof water temperature and SSC revealed that dynamic behaviors of lake currents such as wind-driven currents,countercurrents, compensation currents, intruding currents, and sediment-ladenunderflows dominate the interiorthermal structureof supraglacialTsho Rolpa Lake. Findings on their contribution to the lake expansion are as follows (Fig. 14): (1) The lake has a prominentthermocline at about 25 m in depth irrespective of the weak pycnocline. This is because a diurnal valley wind activates the advective diffusion of the heat, especially radiativeheat absorbedin the surface layer, while cold meltwater of relatively high turbidityis spreadin the deeper zone by downward compensation currentsand underflows. Watermotions such as vertical water circulation are thus accompaniedby diurnal oscillations of the thermocline. The oscillations could greatly affect the thermalconditions on the lake bottom at uplake of the end moraine. (2) In the surface mixed layer, where the water density depends on water temperatureratherthan suspended sediment concentration (SSC), wind-driven currents from the valley wind transportthe absorbed heat up to the glacier terminus. The consequent setup and vertical water circulation make relatively warm water of more than approximately 5?C in direct contact with the glacier ice. This could enhance ice-melt at the lower part of the glacier terminus and induce the ice-calving, leading to lake expansion. (3) Because of the weak density stability, the countercurrents compensating for the upper wind-driven currents could conduct the vertical momentum transfernear the pycnocline. As a result, the horizontal currents are initiated as countercurrents

Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to Dr. G. R. Bhatta, Executive Secretary of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Ministry of Water Resources, Nepal, for his cooperation for the field survey and research. We are also indebted to Mr. K. P. Rizal, the head of GLOF Unit for the helpful preparationof the field survey. This study was made as a GLOF (Glacier Lake OutburstFlood) researchprogramassisted by JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA).

References Cited
Chikita, K., Yonemitsu, N., and Yoshida, M., 1991: Dynamic sedimentationprocesses in a glacier-fed lake, Peyto Lake, Alberta, Canada.Japanese Journal of Limnology, 52: 27-43. Chikita, K.A., Smith, N. D., Yonemitsu, N., and Perez-Arlucea, M., 1996a: Dynamics of sediment-laden underflows passing over a subaqueous sill: glacier-fed Peyto Lake, Alberta, Canada. Sedimentology, 43: 865-875. Chikita, K., Yamada, T, Sakai, A., Ghimire, R. P., and Kadota,
K. CHIKITA ET AL. / 69

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T, 1996b: The basin extension and outburstpotentiality of a supraglacial lake in the Nepal Himalaya: A reconnaissance study. Geophysical Bulletin of Hokkaido University,59: 3950 (in Japanesewith English abstract). Chikita, K., Yamada, T, Sakai, A., and Ghimire, R. P., 1997: Hydrodynamiceffects on the basin expansion of Tsho Rolpa Glacier Lake in the Nepal Himalaya. Bulletin of Glacier Research, 15: 59-69. Hamblin,P. F and Carmack,E. C., 1978: River-inducedcurrents in a fjord lake. Journal of Geophysical Research, 83: 885899. Kadota, T, 1994: Report for the field investigation on the Tsho Rolpa glacier lake, Rolwaling valley, February 1993-June 1994. WECS N551.489 KAD. Mehaute, B. L., 1976: An Introductionto Hydrodynamicsand 311 pp. Water Waves. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Mool, K., Kadota,T, Maskey, P. R., Pokharel,S., and Joshi, S., 1993: Interim report on the field investigation on the Tsho Rolpa glacier lake, Rolwaling valley. WECS Report No. 3/4/ 0121193/1/1, Seq. No. 436. Mortimer,C. H., 1952: Watermovements in lakes during sumevidence from the distributionof temperamer stratification; ture in Windermere.Philosophical Transactionsof Royal Society, ser. B, 236: 355-404. Sakai, A., 1995: Thermalcharacteristicsof the Tsho Rolpa glacier lake. M.Sc. thesis, Hokkaido University. 66 pp. (in Japanese). Yamada,T, 1993: Glacier lakes and their outburstfloods in the Nepal Himalayas.WECS/JICA.37pp. Yamada, T, 1996: Report on the investigations of Tsho Rolpa Glacier Lake, Rolwaling Valley. WECS/JICA.129 pp. Ms submittedOctober 1997

70 / ARCTIC, ANTARCTIC, AND ALPINE RESEARCH

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