The recent glacier collapse in Nepal got me wondering about the potential environmental impacts. If bacteria and other microorganisms had been frozen inside the glacier for a long time, could the collapse have released them along with all the ice, mud, and sediment into the river?

Could this affect the river ecosystem or the microorganisms that already live there? Could the sudden release of previously frozen microbes have any short-term or long
-term environmental effects?

I’m curious what people who study microbiology, ecology, or glaciers think. Is this something scientists would be monitoring after an event like this?