Abstract
Evidence of former landslide-dammed lakes exists in several places of the Central Asian mountains, both from historic and prehistoric times. Geomorphic records help to understand recent processes: large landslides repeatedly dam lakes which then threaten the population downstream. Even though most dam failures occur in the first few months after formation, lakes may also drain suddenly at later stages. Two case studies from Northern Pakistan are employed to exemplify the involved phenomena regarding dam formation, outburst mechanisms and options for hazard mitigation.
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Acknowledgements
The first author of the present paper was invited to Hattian Bala and Attabad by the NDMA and UN OCHA. Special thanks go to Dr. Kausar (Geological Survey of Pakistan), General Ahmed Nadim (NDMA) and Kamran Shariff (UN OCHA) as well as to Johanna Lomax (Institute of Applied Geology, BOKU University Vienna) for processing of the OSL samples from Ghudara Lake.
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Schneider, J.F., Gruber, F.E., Mergili, M. (2013). Recent Cases and Geomorphic Evidence of Landslide-Dammed Lakes and Related Hazards in the Mountains of Central Asia. In: Margottini, C., Canuti, P., Sassa, K. (eds) Landslide Science and Practice. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31319-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31319-6_9
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