Flow hydraulics and geomorphic effects of glacial‐lake outburst floods in the Mount Everest region, Nepal

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Abstract
Glacial‐lake outburst floods (GLOFs) on 3 September 1977 and 4 August 1985 dramatically modified channels and valleys in the Mount Everest region of Nepal by eroding, transporting, and depositing large quantities of sediment for tens of kilometres along the flood routes. The GLOF discharges were 7 to 60 times greater than normal floods derived from snowmelt runoff, glacier meltwater, and monsoonal precipitation (referred to as seasonal high flow floods, SHFFs). Specific stream power values ranged from as low as 1900 W m−2 in wide, low‐gradient valley segments to as high as 51 700 W m−2 in narrow, high‐gradient valley segments bounded by bedrock. Along the upper 16 km of the GLOF routes, the reach‐averaged specific stream power of the GLOFs was 3·2 to 8·0 times greater than the reach‐averaged specific stream power of the SHFFs. The greatest geomorphic change occurred along the upper 10 to 16 km of the GLOF routes, where the ratio between the GLOF specific stream power and the SHFF specific stream power was the greatest, there was an abundant supply of sediment, and channel/valley boundaries consisted primarily of unconsolidated sediment. Below 11 to 16 km from the source area, the geomorphic effects of the GLOFs were reduced because of the lower specific stream power ratio between the GLOFs and SHFFs, more resistant bedrock flow boundaries, reduced sediment supply, and the occurrence of past GLOFs. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.