Study team completes expedition to Sikkim glacier

Comprising Assistant Scientific Officer Narpati Sharma and 3 Project Scientists, RK Sharma, Pranay Pradhan and Dilliram Chettri, the team embarked on the trip on September 27 last to study glacier velocity, snout monitoring, glacier melt and water run-off of Rathong glacier.

East Rathong is a south facing, valley glacier (starts from the elevation of 4600 meters above mean sea level) and it is a 5.12 km long north-south flowing valley glacier with an average width of 1.50km.

During the expedition, the study team fixed 13 stakes each 12 feet high over the East Rathong glacier surface for monitoring glacier velocity, accumulations and ablations (melting) of the glaciers.

In such harsh environments, the team dug 7-9 feet deep in different glacier zones and the stakes were placed in such highly elevated low latitude glacier. The study team also recorded the GPS coordinates of the stakes.

The team began the journey by trekking on Himalayan belts of Kanchanjunga National Park from Yuksam and reached the East Rathong glacier on September 30. The team ended its first phase of ground survey and preliminary studies on October 9.

The team recorded the water discharge of Rathong Chu at the snout of the East Rathong Glacier and also recorded the geographical coordinates of the glacier snout with the help of GPS.

The expedition has been undertaken as a part of the project entitled "Long term monitoring of the Glacier Dynamics of East Rathong Glacier" sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to the Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology.