Glaciology and geomorphology of the Muchuhar-Shishper glacier complex (Hunza Basin, Western Karakoram)

The Karakoram Range is a highly dynamic glacierized region where the life of millions of people depends on meltwater from glaciers. This region is also a cluster for glacier related hazards, such Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). To improve the understanding of these phenomena, it is necessary to consider not only glacier evolution, but also the associated geomorphological processes. Following this approach, we present a detailed, remote-sensing derived, geomorphological map of the Muchuhar-Shishper glacier complex, representative of surge-type glaciers and glacier related hazards. The mapping was carried out through manual digitization based on high-resolution openly available datasets from 2022 (sub-metre Google Satellite imagery and 10 m Sentinel-2). The resulting map provides the first high-resolution inventory of the main glacier related surface features (e.g. 5682 crevasses and 186 lakes); serving as a consistent geomorphological framework for the interpretation of ongoing processes. This study represents a solid baseline for future analyses of glacier dynamics, surge mechanisms and related hazards.