Glacial Drainage Systems on the Langtang Glacier

The team trekked initially from Syafrubesi to their Morimoto base camp over six days and once there set about undertaking their research. Their objectives were twofold: firstly to determine the structure and efficiency of the glacier’s drainage system, and secondly to understand how the drainage system and resulting runoff is influenced by the thickness and topography of the debris on top of the glacier. Once at base camp they took discharge and water chemistry measurements and injected dye traces higher up in order to track the drainage systems. These were then subsequently caught by the gauging station they installed. Over 3 days a total of 8 dye gaugings were conducted and the data they gathered will allow the relationship between stream level and discharge to be understood, and ultimately give a more complete picture of the glacier’s discharge. After 11 days in the field they trekked back out to Syafrubesi and onwards to Kathmandu. The team plans to return in October/November 2019 to complete further dye traces and take water chemistry samples.