ABSTRACT: Glacier outburst floods from "Hazard Lake", Yukon Territory, and the problem of flood magnitude prediction

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

In August 1978 "Hazard Lake" released 19,620,000 cubic m of water through a subglacial tunnel beneath Steele Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada. The discharge during the outburst flood was measured by recording lake level changes with time, and a peak discharge of approximately 640 cubic m/s was estimated from the data. We have attempted to model the 1978 flood from "Hazard Lake" using an adaptation of Nye's (1976) theoretical model for jokulhlaups from Grimsvotn. Our aim has been to calibrate the Nye model as a first step toward using it as a peak discharge estimator for other glacier-dammed basins. The agreement between out measured and simulated hydrographs is good, and we find that creep closure ... appears to play an insignificant role in limiting the discharge of "Hazard Lake". Release of thermal energy from the relatively warm lake water is the dominant factor contributing to tunnel enlargement.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology