Red Himalayan Glacial Lake Discovered Using Satellite Images Taken Over the Past 20 Years

Scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have reported the existence of a new Himalayan glacial lake in a remote region in the Northeast Himalayas.

The scientists discovered that the unusual and unique Himalayan glacial lake has reddish-brown waters as observed from space-based remote sensing data. The satellite images were taken over the past 20 years.

Their study, entitled "Space-based observation of a high-altitude red-colored glacial lake in Ladakh, Northwest Himalaya, India", suggests that the reddish-brown lake is as big as New York City's Grand Central Station.

Why the New Himalaya Glacial Lake is Red?

Lakes come in different sizes and colors, such as blue, pink, green, and brown. It seems that Himalayan glacial lakes are no differentsince scientists recently discovered an unusual and unique feature of the Zanskar valley, Ladakh, India.

Massive Science reported that images from satellite observations for the past 20 years were compiled and analyzed, wherein they found the red lake in the high-altitude Himalayas mountain range.

The lake is approximately 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the nearest village and covers an area of around 0.23 square kilometers, almost the same size as the Grand Central Station in New York.

The Himalayan lake is made from the northeastern glacial melt and researchers believe that climate change plays a significant role in its formation.

The team believes that the red color is due to the local geology and iron-rich minerals of the region, like hematite and goethite, that interact with snow and glacial meltwaters and subsequently deposits red suspension in the lake.

The lake's unique geochemistry and the molecules reflect the light at longer wavelengths, making the Himalayan glacial lake appear red.

ISRO scientists hope to conduct further study of the lake this summer to better understand its ecology and glacial geochemistry.

ALSO READ: World's Largest Lakes Reveal Data About Climate Change

Melting Glaciers and Climate Change

Glaciers around the world are retreating due to rising snowlines as air temperatures rise in higher elevations, prompting more melting and less snow accumulation, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

Satellite images of a Himalayan glacial lake at the foot of Kokthan Glacier, south of Kanchenjunga Massif, show that their sizes have doubled over the past decades like when Landsat 5 first took a photo of it in 1990 and compared images taken by Landsat 8 in 2018. Scientists confirmed that its size has doubled since 30 years ago.

Moreover, a lake in Sikkim Province in India that was only 2,600 feet (800 meters) in length in 1988 has doubled to 5,200 feet (1,600 meters), according to glaciologist Mauri Pello of Nichols College. Scientists have also observed new lakes in the former glacial-filled valleys that fed on glacial melts.

The growth of glacial lakes spells bad news as it increases the risks of flooding in nearby valleys, bringing rocks, sediment, and soil that devastate the communities and destroy the surrounding landscape. The Sikkim region of the Himalayan range has at least a dozen lakes that look susceptible to possible glacial lake outburst floods.