(Redirected from Himalaya)
The 'Himalayas' (also 'Himalaya',
Hindi: हिमालय,
IPA pronunciation: ) are a
mountain range in
Asia, separating the
Indian subcontinent from the
Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of the massive mountain system which includes the Himalaya proper, the
Karakoram, the
Hindu Kush, and a host of minor ranges extending from the
Pamir Knot. The name is from
Sanskrit , a
tatpurusa compound meaning "the abode of snow" (from "snow", and "abode"; see also ''
Himavat'').
[1]
Together, the Himalaya mountain system is the planet's highest and home to the world's highest peaks: the
Eight-thousanders, including
Mount Everest. To comprehend the enormous scale of Himalayan peaks, consider that
Aconcagua, in the
Andes, at 6,962 m, is the highest peak outside the Himalaya, while the Himalayan system has
over 100 separate mountains exceeding 7,200 meters.
[2]
The Himalayas stretch across
six nations:
Bhutan,
China,
India,
Nepal,
Pakistan and
Afghanistan. They are the source of three of the world's major
river systems, the
Indus basin, the
Ganga-
Brahmaputra basin and the
Yangtze basin. Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the
drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers, among them the people of
Bangladesh.
The Himalayas run, west to east, from the Indus river valley to the Brahmaputra river valley, thereby forming an arc 2,400 km long, which varies in width from 400 km in the western
Kashmir-
Xinjiang region to 150 km in the eastern
Tibet-
Arunachal Pradesh region. The Himalaya chain consists of three parallel ranges, with the northern-most range known as the Great or Inner Himalayas.
Ecology
The flora and fauna of the Himalayas varies with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the front of the range. This diversity of climate, altitude, rainfall and soil conditions generates a variety of distinct plant and animal communities, or
ecoregions.
Lowland forests
On the
Indo-Gangetic plain at the base of the mountains, an
alluvial plain drained by the Indus and Ganges-Brahmaputra river systems, vegetation varies from west to east with rainfall. The
xeric Northwestern thorn scrub forests occupy the plains of Pakistan and the
Indian Punjab. Further east lie the
Upper Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests of
Uttar Pradesh and
Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests of
Bihar and
West Bengal. These are monsoon forests, with drought-deciduous trees that lose their leaves during the dry season. The moister
Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests occupy the plains of
Assam.
The Terai belt
Above the alluvial plain lies the
Terai strip, a seasonally marshy zone of sand and clay soils. The Terai has higher rainfall than the plains, and the downward-rushing rivers of the Himalaya slow down and spread out in the flatter Terai zone, depositing fertile silt during the monsoon season and receding in the dry season. The Terai has a high water table due to groundwater percolating down from the adjacent
bhabhar zone. The central part of the Terai belt is occupied by the
Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, a mosaic of grasslands, savannas, deciduous and evergreen forests that includes some of the world's tallest grasslands. The grasslands of the Terai belt are home to the
Indian Rhinoceros ''(Rhinoceros unicornis)''.
Bhabhar belt
Above the Terai belt is an upland zone known as the Bhabhar, a zone of porous and rocky soils, made up of debris washed down from the higher ranges. The Bhabhar and the lower Siwalik ranges have a subtropical climate. The
Himalayan subtropical pine forests occupy the western end of the subtropical belt, with forests dominated by
Chir Pine ''(Pinus roxburghii)''. The central part of the range is home to the
Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, dominated by
sal ''(Shorea robusta)''.
Siwalik Hills
Also called Churia Hills. Intermittent outermost range of foothills extending across Himalayan region through
Pakistan,
India,
Nepal and
Bhutan. Consists of many sub-ranges. Summits generally 600 to 1,200 meters. Steeper southern slopes form along a fault zone called 'Main Frontal Thrust'; northern slopes are gentler. Permeable conglomerates and other rocks allow rainwater to percolate downslope into the Bhabhar and Terai, supporting only scrubby forests upslope.
Inner Terai or Dun Valleys
Open valleys north of Siwalik Hills or nestled between Siwalik subranges. Examples include Dehra Dun in India and Chitwan in Nepal.
Lesser Himalaya
Prominent range 2,000 to 3,000 meters high forming along the 'Main Boundary Thrust' fault zone with a steep southern face and gentler northern slopes. Nearly continuous except for river gorges. Rivers gather in candelabra form to the north to break through this range in relatively few places.
Midlands
'Hilly' region averaging about 1,000 meters immediately north of the Mahabharat Range, rising over about 100 km to about 4,000 meters at the 'Main Frontal Thrust' fault zone where the Greater Himalaya begin.
★ Montane forests - At the middle elevations of the range, the subtropical forests yield to a belt of
temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, with the
Western Himalayan broadleaf forests at the western end of the range, and the
Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Above the broadleaf forests are the
Western and
Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests.
Alpine shrub and grasslands
Shilla (7026 m) above the Spiti Valley in India
Above the tree line are the
Northwestern,
Western, and
Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows, which yield to
tundra in the higher Himalayan range. The alpine meadows are the summer habitat of the endangered
Snow Leopard ''(Uncia uncia)''.
Origins and growth
The 6,000 km plus journey of the India landmass (Indian Plate) before its collision with Asia (Eurasian Plate) about 40 to 50 million years ago.
The Himalayas are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet. According to the modern theory of
plate tectonics, their formation is a result of a
continental collision or
orogeny along the
convergent boundary between the
Indo-Australian Plate and the
Eurasian Plate. The collision began in the
Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago, when the north-moving Indo-Australian Plate, moving at about 15 cm/year, collided with the Eurasian Plate. By about 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the
Tethys Ocean, whose existence has been determined by
sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor and the
volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor. The Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the
Tibetan plateau, which forces the plateau to move upwards. The
Arakan Yoma highlands in
Myanmar and the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the
Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of this collision.
The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at 67 mm/year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500
km into Asia. About 20 mm/year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by
thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalayas rising by about 5 mm/year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this region
seismically active, leading to
earthquakes from time to time.
Glaciers and river systems
Glaciers near by
K2 in Pakistan.
The Himalayan range encompasses a very large number of
glaciers, notable among which is the
Siachen Glacier, the largest in the world outside the polar region. Some of the other more famous glaciers include the
Gangotri and
Yamunotri (
Uttarakhand), Nubra, Biafo and Baltoro (
Karakoram region), Zemu (
Sikkim) and
Khumbu glaciers (
Mount Everest region).
The higher regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year in spite of their proximity to the
tropics, and they form the sources for several large
perennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems:
This image shows the termini of the glaciers in the Bhutan-Himalaya. Glacial lakes have been forming rapidly on the surface of the debris-covered glaciers in this region during the last few decades.
★ The western rivers combine into the ''Indus Basin'', of which the
Indus River is the largest. The Indus begins in Tibet at the confluence of Sengge and Gar rivers and flows southwest through
Pakistan to the
Arabian Sea. It is fed by the
Jhelum, the
Chenab, the
Ravi, the
Beas, and the
Sutlej rivers, among others.
★ Most of the other Himalayan rivers drain the ''Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin''. Its two main rivers are the
Ganges and the
Brahmaputra. The Ganga originates as the
Bhagirathi from the
Gangotri glacier and flows southeast through the plains of northern India, fed by the
Alaknanda and the
Yamuna among other tributaries. The Brahmaputra originates as the
Yarlung Tsangpo River in western Tibet, and flows east through
Tibet and west through the plains of
Assam. The Ganga and the Brahmaputra meet in
Bangladesh, and drain into the
Bay of Bengal through the world's largest
river delta.
The eastern-most Himalayan rivers feed the
Ayeyarwady River, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through
Myanmar to drain into the
Andaman Sea.
The
Salween,
Mekong, the
Yangtze and the
Huang He (Yellow River) all originate from parts of the
Tibetan plateau that are geologically distinct from the Himalaya mountains, and are therefore not considered true Himalayan rivers. Some geologists refer to all the rivers collectively as the ''circum-Himalayan rivers''.
[ Geochemistry of the Suspended Sediments of Circum-Himalayan Rivers and Weathering Budgets over the Last 50 Myrs., , J, Gaillardet, Geophysical Research Abstracts, 2003 ]
In recent years scientists have monitored a notable increase in the rate of
glacier retreat across the region as a result of global
climate change.
[3] Although the effect of this won't be known for many years it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of millions of people that rely on the
glaciers to feed the rivers of northern
India during the dry seasons.
[4]
According to a UN climate report, the Himalayan glaciers that are the sources of
Asia's biggest rivers could disappear by 2035 as temperatures rise
[5] and
India,
China,
Pakistan,
Bangladesh,
Nepal and
Myanmar could experience floods followed by
droughts in coming decades. In
India alone, the Ganges provides water for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people.
[6][7]
Lakes
Gurudogmar, India, a high Himalayan lake at an altitude of 5,148 meters.
The Himalaya region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Most lakes are found at altitudes of less than 5,000 m, with the size of the lakes diminishing with altitude. The largest lake is the
Pangong Tso, which is spread across the border between India and Tibet. It is situated at an altitude of 4,600 m, and is 8 km wide and nearly 134 km long. A notable high (but not the highest) lake is the
Gurudogmar in
North Sikkim at an altitude of 5,148 m (16,890 ft) (altitude source:
SRTM). Other major lakes include the
Tsongmo lake, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim(India) and
Tilicho lake, a large lake in an area that was closed to outsiders until recently.
The mountain lakes are known to geographers as ''
tarns'' if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres. For more information about these, see
here.
Impact on climate
The Himalayas as seen from an aircraft in Tibet
The Himalayas have a profound effect on the
climate of the
Indian subcontinent and the
Tibetan plateau. It prevents frigid, dry
Arctic winds from blowing south into the subcontinent, which keeps
South Asia much warmer than corresponding
temperate regions in the other continents. It also forms a barrier for the
monsoon winds, keeping them from traveling northwards, and causing heavy rainfall in the
Terai region. The Himalayas are also believed to play an important part in the formation of
Central Asian deserts such as the
Taklamakan and
Gobi deserts.
The mountain ranges also prevent western winter disturbances from
Iran from traveling further, resulting in snow in
Kashmir and rainfall for parts of
Punjab and northern India. Despite being a barrier to the cold northernly winter winds, the Brahmaputra valley receives part of the frigid winds, thus lowering the temperature in the
northeast Indian states and
Bangladesh. These winds also cause the North East monsoon during this season for these parts.
In turn, the weather phenomenon called
Jet Stream affects our image of the highest peaks on earth. The strong stream of winds from the west pass through Everest, creating a familiar plume of snows blowing from the summit, and visible from a great distance.
Mountain passes
The Himalayan range at Yumesongdong in
Sikkim, in the
Yumthang River valley.
The rugged terrain of the Himalaya makes few routes through the mountains possible. Some of these routes include:
★
Gangtok in
Sikkim to
Lhasa in
Tibet, via the
Nathula Pass and
Jelepla Passes (offshoots of the ancient
Silk Road).
★
Bhadgaon in
Nepal to
Nyalam in
Tibet.
★
Rohtang Pass in
Himachal Pradesh,
India.
★ The road from
Srinagar in
Kashmir via
Leh to
Tibet. This pass is now less used because of regional troubles. Many people are affected.
★
Mohan Pass is the principal pass in the
Siwalik Hills, the southern most and geologically youngest foothills running parallel to the main Himalayas in
Sikkim.
Impact on politics and culture
Mountain sheds like these are used by the rural populace as shelter for cattle in summer months as they take them for grazing in higher altitudes.
The Himalayas, due to their large size and expanse, have been a natural barrier to the movement of people for tens of thousands of years. In particular, this has prevented intermingling of people from the
Indian subcontinent with people from
China and
Mongolia, causing significantly different languages and customs between these regions. The Himalayas have also hindered trade routes and prevented military expeditions across its expanse. For instance,
Genghis Khan could not expand his empire south of the Himalayas into the subcontinent.
Himal
Himal is
Nepalese for "snow-covered mountain" and is used to name the various mountains of the Himalayas. In Nepal, these are as follows:
★ Sagarmatha Himal
★ Annapurna Himal
★ Ganesh Himal
★ Langtang Himal
★ Manaslu Himal
★
Rolwaling Himal
★ Jugal Himal
★ Gauri Sankar Himal
★ Kanjirowa Himal
★ Khumbu Himal
★ Dhaulagiri Himal
Notable peaks
| Peak Name | Other names and meaning | Elevation (m) | Elevation (ft) | First ascent | Notes |
|---|
| Everest | Sagarmatha -"Forehead of the Sky",
Chomolangma or Qomolangma -"Mother of the Universe" | 8,850 | 29,028 | 1953 | World's highest mountain, situated on the border of Nepal and Tibet, China. |
| K2 | Chogo Gangri | 8,611 | 28,251 | 1954 | World's 2nd highest. Located on border between Pakistan-administered Northern Areas and Xinjiang, China. Widely considered the most challenging mountains in the world to climb. |
| Kangchenjunga | Kangchen Dzö-nga, "Five Treasures of the Great Snow" | 8,586 | 28,169 | 1955 | World's 3rd highest, highest in India (Sikkim) and second highest in Nepal. |
| Makalu | - | 8,462 | 27,765 | 1955 | World's 5th highest situated in Nepal. |
| Dhaulagiri | White Mountain | 8,167 | 26,764 | 1960 | World's 7th highest situated in Nepal. |
| Nanga Parbat | Nangaparbat Peak or Diamir, "Naked Mountain" | 8,125 | 26,658 | 1953 | World's 9th highest. Located in Pakistan. Considered one of the world's most dangerous mountains to climb. |
| Annapurna | "Goddess of the Harvests" | 8,091 | 26,545 | 1950 | World's 10th highest situated in Nepal. |
| Nanda Devi | "Bliss-Giving Goddess" | 7,817 | 25,645 | 1936 | Located in Uttarakhand, India |
Notable Himalayan mountaineers
★
George Mallory (1886–1924) Attempt at
first ascent of
Mount Everest; died on North Face.
★
Noel Odell (1890–1987) British. First ascent, in 1936, of
Nanda Devi, which remained the highest summited peak until 1950.
★
Bill Tilman (1898–1977) British. First ascent of Nanda Devi in 1936. In 1934, first person to penetrate
Nanda Devi sanctuary
★
Eric Shipton (1907–1977) British. With Bill Tillman, first to penetrate Nanda Devi sanctuary. Discovered route to Everest over
Khumbu Glacier.
★
John Hunt (1910–1998) British. Leader of 1953 expedition of Mount Everest.
★
Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986) Nepalese
Sherpa mountaineer. First man on Everest along with Edmund Hillary.
★
Maurice Herzog (b. 1919) First person to summit an Eight-thousander,
Annapurna, in 1950. Lost all toes and most fingers due to frostbite. Peak not climbed again until 1970.
★ Sir
Edmund Hillary (born 1919) New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, the first man on Everest with Tenzing Norgay.
★
Tom Bourdillon (1924–1956) member of British Everest expeditions 1951, 1952, and 1953, reached from summit of
Everest three days before
Edmund Hillary and
Tenzing Norgay finally conquered it.
★
Hermann Buhl (1924–1957) First ascent of
Nanga Parbat in 1953 (feat accomplished solo and without oxygen). First ascent of
Broad Peak. Died in fall on
Chogolisa, body never found.
★
Willi Unsoeld (1926–1979) United States. First ascent of Everest from West Face, 1963. Daughter Nanda Devi Unsoeld killed during
Nanda Devi expedition 1976. Died during avalanche on
Mount Ranier, 1979.
★
Chris Bonington (b. 1934) First ascent of
Annapurna (South Face), 4 ascents of Everest.
★
Nawang Gombu (b. 1936) Indian mountaineer. First person to climb Everest twice: 1963 and 1965.
★
Jim Whittaker (b. 1936) United States. First American to summit Everest.
★
Reinhold Messner (born 1944) Italian mountaineer. First man to climb all fourteen
eight-thousanders.
★
Jerzy Kukuczka (1948–1989) Polish mountaineer. Ascended all fourteen
eight-thousanders faster than anybody else, establishing ten new routes.
★
Nazir Sabir Pakistani mountaineer. First ascent of ''two'' eight thousanders (Broad Peak & Gasherbrum II) in a single attempt.
★
Jaime Viñals First Central American person to climb Mount Everest.
[8]
★ Tim Macartney-Snape An Australian mountaineer who climbed Mt Everest by a new route without oxygen from Tibet in 1984 and then again from Nepal in 1990 during his famous Sea to Summit expedition where he became the first person to climb Everest starting from sea level (the Bay of Bengal).
Religion
Several places in the Himalaya are of religious significance in
Hinduism and
Buddhism. In Hinduism, the Himalaya have also been personified as the god ''Himavat'', the father of
Shiva's consort,
Parvati.
★
Haridwar, the place where the river
Ganga enters the
plains.
★
Badrinath, a
temple dedicated to
Vishnu.
★
Kedarnath, where one of the 12
Jyotirlingas is located.
★
Gaumukh, the source of the
Bhagirathi (and hence, by extension, the
Ganga), located a few miles above the town of
Gangotri.
★ Deoprayag, where the
Alaknanda and
Bhagirathi merge to form the
Ganga.
★
Rishikesh, has a temple of
Lakshmana.
★
Mount Kailash, a 6,638 m high peak which is considered to be the abode of the
Hindu god
Shiva and is also venerated by
Buddhists.
Lake Manasarowar lies at the base of Mount Kailash, and is the source of the
Brahmaputra.
★
Amarnath, has a natural
Shiva linga of ice which forms for a few weeks each year. Thousands of people visit this cave during these few weeks.
★ The
Vaishno Devi is a popular shrine among
Durga devotees.
★ A number of
Tibetan Buddhist sites are situated in the Himalaya, including the residence of the
Dalai Lama.
★ The
Yeti is one of the most famous creatures in
cryptozoology. It is a large
primate-like creature that is supposed to live in the Himalaya. Most mainstream scientists and experts consider current evidence of the Yeti's existence unpersuasive, and the result of hoaxes, legend or misidentification of mundane creatures.
★
Shambhala is a mystical city in
Buddhism with various legends associated with it. While some legends consider it to be a real city where secret Buddhist doctrines are being preserved, other legends believe that the city does not physically exist and can only be reached in the mental realm.
★
Sri Hemkund Sahib - Sikh Gurudwara where Guru Gobind Singh meditated and achieved enlightenment in a previous incarnation.
The Himalayas in fiction
The cover of Tintin in Tibet
★
Shangri-La is a fictional
utopia situated somewhere in the Himalayas, based on the legendary
Shambhala. It is described in the novel ''
Lost Horizon'', written by the
British writer
James Hilton in 1933.
★ ''
Tintin in Tibet'' is one of the series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by
Belgian writer and illustrator
Hergé, featuring the young reporter Tintin investigating a plane crash in the
Gosain Than massif in the Himalayas. (1960)
★ The
Hollywood movie ''
Vertical Limit'' (2000), is set in the
K2 peak of the Himalayas, in
Pakistan.
★ Several levels of
Tomb Raider 2 and one level in of the
Tomb Raider series are situated in the Himalayas.
★ The ''Inheritance of Loss'' written by
Kiran Desai is partly set in the Himalaya Mountains. It won the
Man Booker Prize in 2006.
★
Rumer Godden's novel "
Black Narcissus" (1939) is about an order of nuns who set up a convent in the Himalayas. The film, released in 1947 by
Powell and Pressburger and starring
Deborah Kerr, was not actually shot in the Himalayas and relied primarily on
matte paintings to evoke the mountains.
See also
★
Eastern Himalaya
★
Baltistan
★
Eight-thousander - a list of peaks over 8,000 metres
★
Geography of China
★
Himalayan Towers
★
Karakoram Highway
★
Karakoram Mountain Range
★
Ladakh
★
List of highest mountains - all mountains over 7,200 meters
★
List of mountains in Pakistan
★
Mountain ranges of Pakistan
★
Trekking peak
★
Yeti
Notes
1. Oracle Education Foundation: Indian Himalayas
2. Himalayan Mountain System
3. Vanishing Himalayan Glaciers Threaten a Billion
4. Glaciers melting at alarming speed
5. Big melt threatens millions, says UN
6. Ganges, Indus may not survive: climatologists
7. Himalaya glaciers melt unnoticed
8. Faith that moves mountains Neira, Claudia
References
The Himalayan Journal published by
Himalayan Club
Further reading
★
Michael Palin, '', Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated (2004) ISBN 0-297-84371-0
★
John Hunt, ''Ascent of Everest'', Hodder & Stoughton (1956) ISBN 0-89886-361-9
★ ''Everest'', the
IMAX movie (1998), ISBN 0-7888-1493-1
External links
★
Comprehensive Information about the mountains of Himalaya with links to good images
★
Harish Kapadia
★
The making of the Himalaya and major tectonic subdivisions
★
Geology of the Himalayan mountains
★
Birth of the Himalaya
★
Some notes on the formation of the Himalaya
★
Guide to the 8000 m peaks
★
Pictures from a trek in Annapurna (film by Ori Liber)
★
Kumaon Himalayas
★
Adi Kailash - Himalayas
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