A Study on Hydrology and Mass Balance of Mengdakangri Glacier in Mid-Eastern Section of Himalayas

An expedition to the Mengdakangri Glacier in the mid-eastern section of the Himalayas was carried out from July to September,2007.It is found that the Mengdakangri Glacier showed a negative mass balance in the expedition period,with very strong ablation in July and early August.During the expedition of 70 days,the mass balance in the ablation stake covered area was-435～-711 mm,with a mean rate of-6.2～-10.2 mm5d-1,and the total mass balance of the Mengdakangri Glacier was calculated to be-355 mm.The fluctuation of runoff of the Mengdakangri Glacier was mainly controlled by temperature.The glacier meltwater runoff depths at the two monitoring sections below the glacier terminal were 617mm and 530mm,respectively,with the runoff moduluses of 102 L5s-15km-2 and 88 L5s-15km-2.The water balance analysis showed that the runoff depths of the upper section and lower section were supplied by glacial melt water of 501 mm and 417 mm,respectively,including buried ice meltwater(apper section: 173 mm;lower section 210 mm) and released glacier crack storage water(210 mm).