Himalayas

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Himalayas
The Himalayas are the white chains on the southern edge of the Tibetan highlands (composite satellite images)

The Himalayas are the white chains on the southern edge of the Tibetan highlands (composite satellite images)

Highest peak Mount Everest ( 8848  m )
location Afghanistan , Pakistan , India , PR China , Nepal , Bhutan , Myanmar
part of Alpidian mountain belt
Coordinates 28 °  N , 87 °  E Coordinates: 28 °  N , 87 °  E
Type Fold Mountains
Age of the rock 40-50 million years
particularities Maximum peak height on earth
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The Himalayas (including the Himalayas ) ( Sanskrit : हिमालय , Himālaya , German [ himaːlaɪ̯a ] or [ himalaɪ̯a ]; of hima , snow 'and alaya "place of residence") is a high mountain system in Asia . It is the highest mountain range on earth and lies between the Indian subcontinent in the south and the Tibetan highlands in the north. The mountains extend for a length of about 3000 kilometers from Pakistan to Myanmar (Burma) and reach a width of up to 350 kilometers. In the Himalayas are ten of the fourteen mountains on earth, the peaks of which are more than 8,000 meters high (" eight-thousanders "), including Mount Everest , which is 8848  m above sea level. NHN highest mountain on earth. With its southern location and the Tibetan highlands in the back of the Himalayas, which rise up as an extensive high plateau, the Himalayas have a great influence on the climate of South and Southeast Asia . For example, the Indian summer monsoon is only created by the Ferrelian pressure structures in the West Indies and Tibet, which are thermally caused in summer . Dammed at the main point of the Himalayas, some of the rainiest places on earth are located here, as well as the headwaters of all major river systems in South Asia.

Location and naming

The mountain range stretches from Central Asia , at the Khyber Pass on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan , along the border of India and the two Himalayan states of Nepal and Bhutan with Tibet , to the Patkai Mountains, which are bent to the south between Assam and Myanmar and the Hengduan - Mountains , the southern flank of the eastern flank of the Tibetan highlands. It separates South Asia from the rest of the continent.

In German-language literature, the whole mountain system is generally referred to as 'Himalaya', in English literature one speaks of the Himalaya if one means the high mountain ranges without the southern foothills, and pluraliter of the Himalayas if one means the whole mountain system including the Transhimalaya .

Occasionally the Hindu Kush is also considered to be part of the Himalayas or the two mountains are combined to form the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya region ( HKH region or HKH chain ).

structure

The High Himalayas in the true sense of the word are the 8,000 m high mountain ranges that extend between the hilly areas of the Ganges lowlands and the longitudinal valley furrow of the upper reaches of the Indus and Brahmaputra (Tsangpo: Mazang / Damqog / Mǎquán or Yarlung / Yǎlǔ Zàngbù). In the north, the High Himalayas are separated from the chain of the Transhimalaya (consisting of Gangdisê and Nyainqêntanglha ), the edge of the Tibetan highlands, by the Indus – Brahmaputra line . The Himalayas reach their greatest heights in the north. The southern foothills of the Himalayas, which accompany it along its entire length, are called Siwaliks (also Churia or Margalla Hills ). They are separated from the main chains by the zones of the Inner Terai . To the south these strike out in the belts of Bhabhar and Terai . In addition, the chains of the southern Himalayas, which only reach heights comparable to the Alps, are differentiated from the High Himalayas as the Front Himalaya ( Lesser Himalaya, "Little Himalaya").

and display information about the image
Panorama of the Himalayas captured by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS)
is used to position images, please do not remove

geology

North movement of the Indian plate
Tectonic division of the Himalayan system

The Himalaya is the largest mountain range currently in existence on earth. The tectonically connected mountain ranges such as the Karakoram Mountains have peaks of over 8,000 meters. They form part of the Alpid mountain belt and are among the youngest high mountains on earth.

The Himalayas are a mountain range of folds that arose as a result of the plate collision between India and Eurasia. When the Indian land mass broke away from Gondwana about 200 million years ago , the Tethys Ocean was located between the Indian and Eurasian land masses. The Indian drifted north at a speed of about 9 meters per century, covered about 6,400 kilometers and rammed into the Eurasian plate about 40 to 50 million years ago. The collision slowed the speed of northward drift in half, to around two inches per year, and is believed to mark the start of the Himalaya's rapid uplift. The drift continues to this day and is so strong that the Himalayas grow more than an inch higher every year. That corresponds to a height increase of 10 kilometers in a million years. Since the collision, India has pushed its way into Asia a further 2,000 kilometers. This process led to strong earthquakes , displacements and folds , the effects of which can be felt well into China and Southeast Asia . The Nanga Parbat area in Pakistan has been excavated more than 10 kilometers in less than 10 million years. Today's uplift rates in the Himalayas are still considerable. Even severe erosion could not keep up with this. Nevertheless, the southern capping of the Himalayas is surrounded by large alluvial cones with fluvial deposits ( molasses ); these form the Siwaliks .

The Himalayas are the highest point on the earth's surface, but not the most distant place on the earth's surface .

climate

The Himalayas are of great importance for the climate of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. It keeps cold, dry, arctic winds from blowing south into the subcontinent, making southern Asia much warmer than corresponding temperate regions on other continents. It also forms a barrier for the monsoon winds coming from the south , which supply the Indian subcontinent with rain. It is believed that the Himalayas also played an important role in the formation of the Central Asian deserts such as the Taklamakan Desert and the Gobi Desert .

The southern capping of the Himalayas shows a monsoon climate . The summer monsoon is a southwest monsoon (sea / sea wind), it absorbs moisture above the sea and rains it down on the Indian or Nepalese west side, i.e. on the south side of the Himalayas (in windward position → damming effect → incline rain ). The winter monsoon is a land wind from the northeast of the continent. As a result, the wind is rather dry (arid). Monsoon climate is an alternately humid tropical climate. The large-scale air circulation around the Indian Ocean is dependent on

  1. the zenith of the sun
  2. the different cooling and warming properties of land and sea. The land heats up 2-3 times faster than the sea, but also cools down 2-3 times faster. This affects the air and air pressure.
  3. the wind deflection caused by the Coriolis force.

Due to the inner tropical convergence zone , which is shifted to the north in summer , the cooler and therefore heavier air is sucked in from the sea; this causes the typical humid conditions of the summer monsoon. In the winter months, the continent is floor high and the sea low. The dry air from the continent is sucked in and the Coriolis force creates a northeast monsoon that corresponds to the northeast trade wind. This happens in the humid tropics. In the south there is a southern monsoon climate and in the north an arid mountain climate. This turns the Himalayan mountains into a climate divide - in contrast, the Alps are only a weather divide.

Vertical climate change: The tropical monsoon climate prevails in the depths (close to the ground). A moderate monsoon climate prevails at 3000 meters and a high alpine or polar climate from 5000–6000 meters.

Effects of climate change

The Himalayas and the adjacent Hindu Kush are particularly affected by global warming . Based on 40 years of satellite images, researchers at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have calculated that the glaciers have lost around a quarter of their mass in the past 40 years. In the period from 2000 to 2016, they lost an average of around 7.7 billion tons of ice per year. Results of a highly acclaimed study from 2019, in which more than 350 researchers were involved, show that even reaching the optimistic 1.5-degree target from the Paris Agreement would upset the climate system of the Himalayas and Hindu Kush and thereby by the end of the 21st century in this region about a third of the ice surface would be lost. Since the water supply of almost two billion people is fed by the glacier systems, one reckons with a failure of climate protection with dramatic consequences for the population. Climatologist Philippus Wester , who was involved in the study, said, “Global warming is about to destroy the icy, glacier-capped peaks of the [Hindu Kush Himalayas] that span eight countries in a little under a century to transform bare rocks. "

Paleogeography and prehistoric climate

During the cold periods between Kangchenjunga in the east and Nanga Parbat in the west, a contiguous valley glacier existed in the 2500 km long Himalayan arc. H. an ice stream network. In the west, the Himalayan glaciers had contact with the ice stream network of the Karakoram and in the north with the Tibetan inland ice. To the south, the partial currents of the local mountain glaciers converged in larger valley glaciers, which in turn flowed into the larger, higher-level Himalayan transverse valley glaciers. These centrally located trunk or outlet glaciers ended below 2000 m above sea level. M. and in places even below 1000 m above sea level in the Himalayan foothills. This applied to the Tamur Khola-, Arun-, Dhud Koshi Nadi-, Tamba Kosi-, Bo Chu (Sun Kosi) -, Langtang (Trisuli Khola) -, Buri Gandaki-, Marsyangdi Nadi-, Madi Khola-, Seti Khola- , Modi Khola-, Thak Khola-, Mayangdi (Myagdi) Khola-, Barbung-Bheri Khola-, Gohna Nala-, Nandakini Nala-, Alaknanda Nala-, Mandakini Nala-, Bhagirathi Nala-, Solang Nala- (Kullu Valley) - , Tori Valley, Triund Valley, and Indus Glaciers. While the current valley glaciers of the Himalayas are at most 20 to 32 km in length, some of the aforementioned main glacial valley glaciers were 60 to 112 km long. The Glacier Snow Limit (ELA), as the height limit between the glacier nutrient area and the melting zone, was lowered by 1400 to 1660 meters compared to today. Under the condition of comparable precipitation conditions, this would result in an ice age temperature decrease of at least 7 to 8.3 ° C compared to today. It was probably drier and therefore colder.

Hydrography

Rivers of East Asia

The higher areas (regions) of the Himalayas are snowed in during the year despite their proximity to the tropics , and they form the sources of several large persistent rivers. There are essentially two major river systems:

  1. Indus with Satlej (Satluj) , which flow through Pakistan from north to south anddraininto the Arabian Sea .
  2. Brahmaputra (called Tsangpo in the upper reaches) and Ganges with Yamuna and Ghaghara , whichdraininto the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh.

Interestingly, the High Himalayas, which carry the highest peaks on earth, do not form a continental divide . Some of the largest rivers in Asia arise north of the main chain and break through the mountains from north to south. The Kali Gandaki forms the deepest gorge in the world between the eight-thousanders Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, which are only 35 kilometers apart . The Indus (which forms the border to the Karakoram near Nanga Parbat ) and Tsangpo , which initially flows eastward over long stretches between the Himalayas and the Transhimalaya , also break through the mountains in deep cuts. These rivers already drained the older Transhimalayas to the south and with their eroding power they were able to hold their own against the strong uplift of the High Himalayas.

Indus, Satlej, Ghaghara and Brahmaputra (Tsangpo) arise in the area of Kailash in the southernmost Transhimalaya ( Gangdisê Mountains), which Buddhism therefore also regards as the “navel of the world”. The Ganges and Yamuna have their source in the Garhwal Mountains, which lie in front of the High Himalayas to the southwest.

  • In addition, the easternmost sections in the Irrawaddy drain through Myanmar, and also the Saluen (Nagchu, Lukiang) , which itself has its source in Tibet.

In addition, the Himalayas also influence the headwaters of other important rivers in the vicinity of South, Southeast and East Asia, which are known as the Circumhimalaya Rivers , including the Irrawaddy and Saluen:

In a broader sense, the Huang He (Ma-chu, Yellow River) can also be mentioned in this context, which has its source in northern Tibet and drains into the Yellow Sea near Beijing .

The glaciers of the Himalayas and especially the Karakoram in the northwest are numerous and among the largest on earth. Among them, the 74 km long Siachen Glacier is the largest. Other well-known glaciers are Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttarakhand), Nubra , Biafo and Baltoro (Karakoram), Zemu (Sikkim) and Khumbu (in the area of Mount Everest ). The glaciers store water in the form of ice and snow in winter and release it again in summer through the melt.

vegetation

The elevations of the Siwalik chain , a comparatively moderately high and completely forested area, are joined to the north by the Front Himalayas and the High Hiamalaya. The southern slope of the Front Himalayas is also lush and overgrown with many species (for example with juniper ).

Settlement

The highest mountain range on earth is not only covered by a network of important watersheds , but is also one of the clearest and most stable cultural divisions in the world. It has always ensured that India could develop astonishingly undisturbed from outside. Because it opposes the monsoon and forces it to rain down, the Himalayas also generate the unique high rainfall that is so crucial for the living conditions there every year, especially in northeastern India .

The states of Nepal and Bhutan are located on the southern slope, to the north the highlands of the Chinese Autonomous Region of Tibet join. India, Pakistan and Myanmar also have a share in the mountains.

See also

Mountain systems of high Asia

Historical travel reports

  • James Baillie Fraser: Views in the Himala Mountains . London 1820. - Rare work with 20 monumental views in colored aquatint etchings. - Abbey 498.
  • John Claude White, In the shadow of the Himalayas - Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim - a photographic memory by John Claude White 1883–1908 . Nymphenburger, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-485-01095-2 .

literature

  • Nachiket Chanchani: Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains: Architecture, Religion, and Nature in the Central Himalayas. University of Washington Press, Seattle 2019, ISBN 978-0-295-74452-0 .

Web links

Commons : Himalayas  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Himalaya  - Explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mapping the vulnerability hotspots over Hindu-Kush Himalaya region to flooding disasters. In: sciencedirect.com. Retrieved September 6, 2015 .
  2. ^ Regional information. In: icimod.org. Retrieved September 6, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Development of an ASSESSment system to evaluate the ecological status of rivers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. In: assess-hkh.at. Retrieved September 6, 2015 .
  4. ^ US Geological Survey: The Himalayas: Two continents collide
  5. ↑ Goudie, A .: Physical Geography - An Introduction , 4th Edition. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Munich, 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1872-0
  6. ↑ www.ldeo.columbia.edu June 19, 2019: Melting of Himalayan Glaciers Has Doubled in Recent Years
  7. ^ JM Maurer, JM Schaefer, S. Rupper, A. Corley: Acceleration of ice loss across the Himalayas over the past 40 years . Science Advances June 19, 2019. Vol. 5, no. 6, eaav7266 DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.aav7266 .
  8. ↑ Philippus Wester , Arabinda Mishra , Aditi Mukherji , Arun Bhakta Shrestha (2019). The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment: Mountains, Climate Change, Sustainability and People . ISBN 978-3-319-92288-1 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-92288-1
  9. ↑ Kunda Dixit / Nepali Times February 5, 2019: Himalayan Glaciers on Pace for Catastrophic Meltdown This Century, Report Warns
  10. ↑ Climate change is having an effect: Glaciers in the Himalayas are melting rapidly. February 5, 2019, accessed February 11, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1982): The Dhaulagiri and Annapurna Himalaya. Journal of Geomorphology, Suppl. 41, Vol. I, Vol. II, Fig. 1–184, Stuttgart, pp. 1-229.
  12. ^ Kuhle, M. (1987): Subtropical mountain and highland glaciation as ice age triggers and the waning of the glacial periods in the Pleistocene. GeoJournal, 14, (4), pp. 393-421.
  13. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1988a): The Pleistocene Glaciation of Tibet and the Onset of Ice Ages- An Autocycle Hypothesis. Tibet and High Asia. Results of the Sino-German Joint Expeditions (I). GeoJournal, 17, (4), pp. 581-596.
  14. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1988b): Geomorphological findings on the build-up of Pleistocene glaciation in southern Tibet and on the problem of inland ice. Results of the Shisha Pangma and Mt.Everest Expedition 1984. Kuhle, M., Wang Wenjing, J. (Eds.). Tibet and High Asia. Results of the Sino-German Joint Expeditions (I). GeoJournal, 17, (4), pp. 457-511.
  15. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1990): New data on the Pleistocene glacial cover of the southern border of Tibet: the glaciation of the Kangchendzönga Massif (8585 m, E-Himalaya). GeoJournal, 20, (4), pp. 415-421.
  16. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1997): New findings concerning the Ice Age (LGM) glacier cover of the East Pamir, of the Nanga Parbat up to the Central Himalaya and of Tibet, as well as the Age of the Tibetan Inland Ice. Tibet and High Asia (IV). Results of Investigations into High Mountain Geomorphology. Paleo-Glaciology and Climatology of the Pleistocene. GeoJournal, 42, (2–3), pp. 87-257.
  17. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1998): Reconstruction of the 2.4 million km² Late Pleistocene ice sheet on the Tibetan Plateau and its impact on the global climate. Quaternary International, 45/46, pp. 71-108 (additional Figures in: 47/48, pp. 173-182).
  18. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1999): Reconstruction of an approximately complete Quaternary Tibetan inland glaciation between the Mt.Everest- and Cho Oyu massifs and the Aksai Chin.- A new glaciogeomorphological SE-NW diagonal profile through Tibet and its consequences for the glacial isostasy and Ice Age cycle. Tibet and High Asia (V). GeoJournal, 47, (1–2), pp. 3-276.
  19. ↑ Kuhle, M. (2001): The maximum Ice Age (LGM) glaciation of the Central and South Karakorum: an investigation of the heights of its glacier levels and ice thickness as well as lowest prehistoric ice margin positions in the Hindukush, Himalaya and in East-Tibet on the Minya Konka-massif. Tibet and High Asia (VI): Glaciogeomorphology and Prehistoric Glaciation in the Karakoram and Himalaya. GeoJournal, 54, (1–4) and 55, (1), pp. 109-396.
  20. ^ Kuhle, M. (2004): The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and LGM) glacier cover in High and Central Asia. Accompanying text to the mapwork in hand with detailed references to the literature of the underlying empirical investigations. Ehlers, J., Gibbard, PL (Eds.). Extent and Chronology of Glaciations, Vol. 3 (Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica). Amsterdam, Elsevier BV, pp. 175-199.
  21. ↑ Kuhle, M. (2005a): The maximum Ice Age (Würmian, Last Ice Age, LGM) glaciation of the Himalaya - a glaciogeomorphological investigation of glacier trim-lines, ice thicknesses and lowest former ice margin positions in the Mt. Everest- Makalu-Cho Oyu massifs (Khumbu- and Khumbakarna Himal) including informations on late-glacial-, neoglacial-, and historical glacier stages, their snow-line depressions and ages. Tibet and High Asia (VII): Glaciogeomorphology and Former Glaciation in the Himalaya and Karakoram. GeoJournal, Vol. 62, no. 3–4, Dordrecht, Boston, London, Kluwer, pp. 193-650.
  22. ↑ Kuhle, M. (2005b): Glacial geomorphology and ice ages in Tibet and surrounding mountains. The Island Arc, 14, (4), pp. 346-367.
  23. ↑ Kuhle, M. (2011): The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and Last Glacial Maximum) Ice Cover of High and Central Asia, with a Critical Review of Some Recent OSL and TCN Dates. Ehlers, J., Gibbard, PL, Hughes, PD (Eds.). Quaternary Glaciation - Extent and Chronology, A Closer Look. Amsterdam, Elsevier BV, pp. 943-965, (glacier maps downloadable: http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780444534477/ ).
  24. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1982): The Dhaulagiri and Annapurna Himalaya. Journal of Geomorphology, Suppl. 41, Vol. I, Vol. II, Fig. 1–184, Stuttgart, pp. 1-229.
  25. ↑ Kuhle, M. (1990): New data on the Pleistocene glacial cover of the southern border of Tibet: the glaciation of the Kangchendzönga Massif (8585 m, E-Himalaya). GeoJournal, 20, (4), pp. 415-421.
  26. ↑ Kuhle, M. (2005a): The maximum Ice Age (Würmian, Last Ice Age, LGM) glaciation of the Himalaya - a glaciogeomorphological investigation of glacier trim-lines, ice thicknesses and lowest former ice margin positions in the Mt. Everest- Makalu-Cho Oyu massifs (Khumbu- and Khumbakarna Himal) including informations on late-glacial-, neoglacial-, and historical glacier stages, their snow-line depressions and ages. Tibet and High Asia (VII): Glaciogeomorphology and Former Glaciation in the Himalaya and Karakoram. GeoJournal, Vol. 62, no. 3–4, Dordrecht, Boston, London, Kluwer, pp. 193-650.
  27. ↑ Cf. Florian Neukirchen: Moving Mountains: Mountains and how they arise . 1st edition. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag , Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-8274-2753-3 , p. 127 f .