Image: Glaciers of Shimsal Valley from space

Description: Several of the glaciers that flow into this valley surge, meaning they cycle through periods when they flow forward several times faster than usual. Since the valley is narrow and has a river running through it, surging glaciers regularly dam the river and create flood hazards. The floods occur when water pooling up behind the tongue of the advancing glacier suddenly breaks through the natural ice dam and cascades down the gorge. As seen in this Landsat 8 image, several glaciers flow into the Shimshal Valley perpendicular to the flow of the river, and they have little room to move before they intersect with the water. In recent decades, the four glaciers most prone to blocking the river have been the Khurdopin, Yukshin Gardan, Yazghil, and Malungutti. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this image on May 13, 2017.
Title: Glaciers of Shimsal Valley from space
Credit: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=90672&src=eoa-iotd
Author: NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
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