image: A team of scientists and guides, supported by horses, trek in the mountains of Bhutan as part of a remote expedition. Scientists from The University of Texas at El Paso and Bhutan are working together to identify risks from glacial outburst floods in remote regions of the Himalayan country.
Credit: Marianne Karplus/The University of Texas at El Paso
EL PASO, Texas (Nov. 19, 2024) - Geology researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are partnering with scientists in the Kingdom of Bhutan to detect and mitigate the impact of glacial floods on rural mountain villages. The new project is supported by approximately $380,000 from the National Science Foundation.
“Bhutan’s dramatic, high Himalayan Mountain landscapes contain numerous glaciers and glacial lakes. But climate change in the Himalaya has increased the country’s vulnerability to a variety of geohazards such as glacial melting, floods, and landslides,” said Marianne Karplus, Ph.D., principal investigator on the study and associate professor in the Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences Department. “We’ll use geophysical methods to better understand and mitigate the risk of these natural disasters.”
Bhutan’s northern Lunana region is characterized by extremely high elevation, rugged mountains and large glaciers that drain into nearby lakes and rivers. Karplus explained that the lakes are often held in by moraines, piles of sediment and debris that are a byproduct of glacial movement.
As climate-related warming hastens glacial melting, Karplus said there is an increased risk of glacial outburst floods, which happen when water bursts through the moraines and runs downstream. The floods are potentially devastating for the villages and hydropower plants that lie downstream, she said. In 1994, a glacial outburst flood killed 21 people and severely damaged many structures. Since then, the kingdom has worked to mitigate the risk of future floods and prepare for their onset.
Dowchu Drukpa, Ph.D., is the geological specialist in Bhutan’s Department of Geology and Mines and a member of the team working on the glacial flooding research. He is also a UTEP alumnus, holding a master’s in geological sciences.
“Our project intends to address the urgent challenges of climate change and the looming threat of glacier lake outburst floods in Bhutan,” Drukpa said. “Built on a foundation of shared scientific interest, cultural ties, and educational collaboration, this joint effort symbolizes the unique connection between Bhutan and UTEP — a bond reflected not only in UTEP's Bhutanese-inspired architecture but also in decades of mutual academic and research exchange.”
During 2025 and 2026, the research team will travel to the region to map the structure and subglacial environment of the region. They will also place seismometers, instruments that measure ground movement like earthquakes. They will then monitor the instruments to identify whether they can be used to detect changes in the river or sediment transport levels, thus potentially helping to detect floods or changes in the river environments.
“When sediments in water collide, they create small vibrations that can be detected with seismology,” Karplus said. “Our research will be a proof of concept to see if this helps us monitor water and sediment levels.”
The team also includes Julien Chaput, Ph.D., co-principal investigator and an assistant professor of earth, environmental, and resource sciences at UTEP; Knut Christianson, Ph.D., co-principal investigator, glaciologist and associate professor at the University of Washington; and three undergraduate UTEP students — Zeden Mo Tamang, Rinzin Jatsho, and Kinzang Lhaden — who are originally from Bhutan. They will be supported by scientists within Bhutan’s Department of Geology and Mines and National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology. A memorandum of understanding finalizing the research agreement was signed between UTEP and Bhutan on October 25.
UTEP has a long-standing relationship with Bhutan that began in 1917 when University leaders chose to model the campus architecture on Bhutanese dzongs or fortresses. Approximately 60 Bhutanese students currently attend UTEP, and the University has sponsored trips to the kingdom and festivals celebrating Bhutanese art and culture.
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 25,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 170 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.