Zemu Glacier

Zemu
Eastern face of Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, near the Zemu Glacier, in the Himalayan region of Sikkim, India.
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Type	Valley glacier
Location	Sikkim
Coordinates	27°45′N 88°16′E / 27.750°N 88.267°E / 27.750; 88.267

Zemu Glacier is the largest glacier in the Eastern Himalaya. It is about 26 kilometres (16 mi) in length and is located at the base of Kangchenjunga in the Himalayan region of Sikkim, India. The Zemu Glacier drains the east side of Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain. The glacier is the source of water for numerous rivers, as it feeds them when it melts. One of them is the Teesta River, which has garnered large attention in the past few years because of a proposed 3500 MW hydropower plant. At the moment the Government of Sikkim has only been able to run a 510 MW plant on the river. Owing to the location of the river in an earthquake prone area, the hydropower plants will be a run of the river project.^[1]

Zemu Glacier remains a less studied and monitored glacier. Studying digital imagery shows that the glacier has receded 27 meters every year between 1967–1984. The retreat is not massive given the great length of the glacier. There is a thick layer of debris on the glacier, preventing ablation: there are, however, small lakes that have formed on the surface of these debris-covered sections of the glacier.