Research @ waterSHED Lab

We are working to understand how glacier lakes are evolving in space and time. These often ephemeral lakes present acute hazards to populations and infrastructure downstream.

Publications (*students):

Sattar, Haritashya, Kargel, Leonard, Shugar, and Chase, 2021. Lake outburst process chain modeling and downstream hazard assessment. J. Hydrol., 598, 126208.

Shugar, Burr*, Haritashya, Kargel... 2020. Rapid worldwide growth of glacial lakes since 1990. Nature Climate Change 10, 939-945.

Watson, Kargel, Shugar, Haritashya, Schiassi, Furfaro. 2020. Mass loss from calving in Himalayan proglacial lakes. Frontiers in Earth Sciences 7, 342.

Byers, Rounce, Shugar, Lala, Byers, Regmi. 2018. A rockfall-induced glacial lake outburst flood, Upper Barun Valley, Nepal. Landslides 16 (3), 533-549

Schiassi, Furfaro, Kargel, Watson, Shugar, Haritashya. 2019. GLAM Bio-Lith RT: A tool for remote sensing reflectance simulation and water components concentration retrieval in glacial lakes. Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 267

Kirschbaum, Watson, Rounce, Shugar, Kargel, ... 2019. The State of Remote Sensing Capabilities of Cascading Hazards Over High Mountain Asia. Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 197

Shugar, Clague, McSaveney. 2018. Late Holocene activity of Sherman and Sheridan glaciers, Prince William Sound, Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews 194, 116-127

Haritashya, Kargel, Shugar, Leonard, Strattman, Watson, ...2018. Evolution and controls of large glacial lakes in the Nepal Himalaya. Remote Sensing 10 (5), 798

Harrison, Kargel, Huggel, Reynolds, Shugar, Betts, ...2018. Climate change and the global pattern of moraine-dammed glacial lake outburst floods. The Cryosphere 12

Kargel, Leonard, Shugar, Haritashya, Bevington, ...2016. Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Science 351 (6269), aac8353

Capps, Rabus, Clague, Shugar. 2010. Identification and characterization of alpine subglacial lakes using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR): Brady Glacier, Alaska, USA. J Glaciology 56 (199), 861-870

The landscapes of western North America have undergone substantial change over the late Quaternary, including marked variations to relative sea levels, glacier extent, etc. We use a combination of field mapping, remote sensing, and archival research to unravel the landscape changes over the past ~20,000 years.

Publications (*students):

Harrison, Kargel, Huggel, Reynolds, Shugar, Betts, ...2018. Climate change and the global pattern of moraine-dammed glacial lake outburst floods. The Cryosphere 12

Shugar, Clague, McSaveney. 2018. Late Holocene activity of Sherman and Sheridan glaciers, Prince William Sound, Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews 194, 116-127

Eamer*, Shugar, Walker, Neudorf, Lian, ...2017. Late Quaternary landscape evolution in a region of stable postglacial relative sea levels, British Columbia central coast, Canada. Boreas 47 (3), 738-753

Shugar, Colorado, Clague, Willis, Best. 2017. ‘Boundary’: mapping and visualizing climatically changed landscapes at Kaskawulsh Glacier and Kluane Lake, Yukon. J Maps, 1-12

Shugar, Clague, Best, Schoof, Willis, Copland, Roe. 2017. River piracy and drainage basin reorganization led by climate-driven glacier retreat. Nature Geoscience 10 (5), 370

Eamer*, Shugar, Walker, Lian, Neudorf, Telka. 2017. A glacial readvance during retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, British Columbia central coast. Quaternary Research 87 (3), 468-481

Neudorf, Lian, Walker, Shugar, Eamer*, Griffin. 2015. Toward a luminescence chronology for coastal dune and beach deposits on Calvert Island, British Columbia central coast, Canada. Quaternary Geochronology 30, 275-281

Shugar, Walker, Lian, Eamer*, Neudorf, McLaren, ...2014. Post-glacial sea-level change along the Pacific coast of North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 97, 170-192

McLaren, Fedje, Hay, Mackie, Walker, Shugar...Eamer*...2014. A post-glacial sea level hinge on the central Pacific coast of Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 97, 148-169

Shugar, Rabus, Clague. 2010. Elevation changes (1949–1995) of Black Rapids Glacier, Alaska, derived from a multi-baseline InSAR DEM and historical maps. J Glaciology 56 (198), 625-634

I have conducted research on a variety of other topics, including process fluvial and aeolian sediment transport, ground ice in permafrost, and medicine cabinet contents.

Publications (*students)

Emmer, A., Cook, S.J., Frey, H., and Shugar, D.H. 2021. Editorial: Geohazards and risks in high mountain regions. Frontiers Earth Sci., 9. 

Kargel, Upadhyay, Maxwell, Ramos, Harrison, Shugar, and Haritashya 2021. Climate change, land use change, and mountain disasters. Georgetown J. of Intl. Affairs.

Shugar, Kane. 2019. An adventure in predatory publishing: the contents of two medicine cabinets. Nature 568:316

Eamer*, Shugar, Walker, Lian, Neudorf. 2017. Distinguishing depositional setting for sandy deposits in coastal landscapes using grain shape. J Sedimentary Research 87 (1), 1-11

Phillips, Burn, Wolfe, Morse, Gaanderse, O’Neill, Shugar, Gruber. 2015. Improving water content description of ice-rich permafrost soils. Proceedings GeoQuébec 68

Shugar. 2014. Bathymetric and geophysical surveys of the southern end of Kluane Lake, Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2013, MacFarlane, Nordling, Sack (eds.), Yukon Geological Survey, p. 221-231.

Walker, Shugar. 2013. Secondary flow deflection in the lee of transverse dunes with implications for dune morphodynamics and migration. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 38 (14), 1642-1654

Shugar, Kostaschuk, Best, Parsons, Lane, Orfeo, ...2010. On the relationship between flow and suspended sediment transport over the crest of a sand dune, Río Paraná, Argentina. Sedimentology 57 (1), 252-272

Kostaschuk, Shugar, Best, Parsons, Lane, Hardy, Orfeo. 2009. Suspended sediment transport and deposition over a dune: Río Paraná, Argentina. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 34 (12), 1605-1611

Kostaschuk, Shugar, Best, Parsons, Lane, Hardy, ...2008. Suspended sediment transport over a dune. Marine Sand-wave and River Dune Dynamics III. University of Leeds, UK, 197-201

Shugar, Kostaschuk, Ashmore, Desloges, Burge. 2007. In situ jet-testing of the erosional resistance of cohesive streambeds. Canadian J Civil Engineering 34 (9), 1192-1195

Parsons, Best, Lane, Hardy, Kostaschuk, Shugar, ...2006. Morphology, flow and sediment transport over a natural 3D dune field: Rio Parana, Argentina. River Flow 2006, vols. 1 and 2, 997-1004