| Lake Merzbacher | |
| Lake Type: | Glacier lake |
| Inflow: | Glaciers |
| Elevation: | 3304m (10,840feet) |
| Pushpin Map: | Kyrgyzstan#Asia |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Location of Lake Merzbacher in Kyrgyzstan. |
Lake Merzbacher (Kirghiz; Kyrgyz: Мерцбахер көлү) is a moraine glacier lake located in east Kyrgyzstan between the north and south Engilchek Glaciers in the Tien Shan Mountains.[1] It is often called the "Disappearing Lake" because it drains every year as the ice melts, often causing a glacial lake outburst flood.[2] The lake was named after a German explorer, Gottfried Merzbacher, who led an expedition in the area in 1903.[3] An ice dam prevents the lake from draining through the majority of the year. However, when a hole finally melts through the dam, the lake drains within three days. When this happens, the lake's discharge can be up to 1000 m3 a second which causes destruction of infrastructure and creates major flooding downstream. It goes through this cycle of appearing, expanding and then draining annually.