article published yes Litan Kumar Mohanty author Prateek Gantayat author 02734268-3e8d-11ef-80a1-cec4a088d004 Ankur Dixit author Manik Das Adhikari author Rahul Biswas author Vivek Kumar Singh author FrPe department On October 4, 2023, a proglacial lake named the South Lhonak lake was the source of a catastrophic Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in the Teesta river basin area, resulting in 24 fatalities and leaving over 70 persons missing. The GLOF also destroyed 13 bridges and a major hydropower plant in the Chungthang region. Over 60,000 individuals in four districts of Sikkim were impacted by this GLOF event. This study examines the factors that led to the GLOF event. Our study shows that the cause of this GLOF was initiated by a landslide, that dumped a substantial amount (~ 38.31 million m3) of debris into the South Lhonak Lake. Furthermore, the glacier that was connected to the lake, lost a big chunk of ice mass (~ 7 million m3) due to calving. The combination of these two processes led to the collapse of the left lateral moraine that consequently generated flood waves which breached the terminal moraine dam of the lake. We recommend monitoring land subsidence and calving events for large proglacial lakes to prevent the disastrous consequences of such GLOFs in the future. https://research-explorer.ista.ac.at/download/21708/21785/2026_ScienceAdv_Mohanty.pdf application/pdfno Springer Nature2026 eng 2045-2322 4187654610.1038/s41598-026-35895-7 16 Mohanty LK, GANTAYAT P, Dixit A, Das Adhikari M, Biswas R, Singh VK. Sequence of events that led to the South Lhonak lake outburst flood in Sikkim, India. <i>Scientific Reports</i>. 2026;16. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7">10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7</a> L. K. Mohanty, P. GANTAYAT, A. Dixit, M. Das Adhikari, R. Biswas, and V. K. Singh, “Sequence of events that led to the South Lhonak lake outburst flood in Sikkim, India,” <i>Scientific Reports</i>, vol. 16. Springer Nature, 2026. Mohanty, L. K., GANTAYAT, P., Dixit, A., Das Adhikari, M., Biswas, R., &#38; Singh, V. K. (2026). Sequence of events that led to the South Lhonak lake outburst flood in Sikkim, India. <i>Scientific Reports</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7</a> L.K. Mohanty, P. GANTAYAT, A. Dixit, M. Das Adhikari, R. Biswas, V.K. Singh, Scientific Reports 16 (2026). Mohanty, Litan Kumar, et al. “Sequence of Events That Led to the South Lhonak Lake Outburst Flood in Sikkim, India.” <i>Scientific Reports</i>, vol. 16, 9741, Springer Nature, 2026, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7">10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7</a>. Mohanty LK, GANTAYAT P, Dixit A, Das Adhikari M, Biswas R, Singh VK. 2026. Sequence of events that led to the South Lhonak lake outburst flood in Sikkim, India. Scientific Reports. 16, 9741. Mohanty, Litan Kumar, PRATEEK GANTAYAT, Ankur Dixit, Manik Das Adhikari, Rahul Biswas, and Vivek Kumar Singh. “Sequence of Events That Led to the South Lhonak Lake Outburst Flood in Sikkim, India.” <i>Scientific Reports</i>. Springer Nature, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7</a>. 217082026-04-12T22:01:48Z2026-05-04T07:54:53Z