ABSTRACT
The Raikot (Rakhiot) glacier is one of the largest of the 69 separate glacier systems on the north slope of the Nanga Parbat massif (8125 m). Although this glacier apparently once descended into the Indus river, its present terminus is 15 km from and 2000 m above the valley. Raikot glacier is 14 km long, with its highest point at ~7700 m and its terminus at 3150 m. Glacier mass is fed by frequent snow and ice avalanches and high snowfall. The equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) is ~4800m with an uncharacteristically low accumulation/ablation area ratio of ~0.60, perhaps caused by the high rates of accumulation and rapid transfer of large volumes of ice ( ~70×106 m3 yr−1) through the ELA to maintain the extensive ablation zone.
