The Tam Pokhari Glacier Lake outburst flood of 3 September 1998

Abstract

Retreating glaciers in the Himalayas have given rise to many glacier lakes. One of such lakes is the Tam Pokhari. It is located in eastern Nepal (86°56'52" E longitude and 27°44'33" N latitude) and breached on 3 September 1998 releasing 17.66 million cubic metres of water. The sediments transported by the outburst flood dammed the Dudh Kosh, River and inundated it up to 2 km upstream The nature of the glacier lake outburst flood, its causes, and downstream impact are presented in this paper.