Scientists Uncover the Story of One of the Himalayas' Largest Lost Glaciers
By Science Correspondent
A giant glacier that once carved its way through the eastern Himalayas almost 100 kilometres long has had its remarkable history revealed by an international team of scientists.
Researchers led by the University of Manchester have reconstructed the glacier's journey over tens of thousands of years, showing how it slowly retreated as the climate changed.
The ancient glacier once stretched from towering mountain peaks to valleys more than 1,300 metres above sea level, making it one of the biggest glaciers ever identified in High Mountain Asia.
By around 19,600 years ago it was still about 80 kilometres long, but over thousands of years it shrank dramatically.
Today, the largest remaining section measures less than five kilometres.
The discovery fills a major gap in scientists' understanding of how glaciers in the eastern Himalayas have changed over time.
Dr Shashank Nitundil, who led the research at the University of Manchester, said:
"The Dri Valley preserves an exceptional record of past glaciation, but until now we had no reliable way of placing these landforms into a timeline.
"By linking the physical evidence preserved in the landscape with a detailed timeline, we have been able to reconstruct how a major Himalayan glacier evolved over tens of thousands of years."
To piece together the glacier's story, researchers studied the landscape for clues left behind by the moving ice, including distinctive valleys, rocky ridges and boulders.
They also analysed rocks exposed after the glacier melted. By measuring tiny amounts of naturally occurring isotopes created by cosmic rays, the team was able to work out when the ice had retreated from different parts of the valley.
Professor Philip Hughes, who co-supervised the project, said the glacier's enormous size suggests neighbouring valleys may also once have been filled with vast sheets of ice, painting a picture of a very different Himalayan landscape thousands of years ago.
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The findings also offer valuable clues about how glaciers respond to changes in temperature and rainfall.
The research suggests that while heavy monsoon rains bring plenty of moisture to the region, warmer temperatures can mean that more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow, speeding up the loss of ice rather than helping glaciers survive.
Scientists hope the discovery will improve understanding of how Himalayan glaciers could respond to future climate change and help build a clearer picture of one of the world's most important mountain regions.
