Know Himalayas

Highlights

  • The Himalayas is a mountain range, 2400 km long, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. These are known as young folded mountains (still rising about 5mm per year).
  • It has ten of fourteen 8000 peaks (other four in Kararoram Himalaya) including the highest Mount Everest/Chomlungma/Sagarmatha situated in Nepal & China at height of 8,848 m or 29,029 ft. Also includes 110+ peaks with height more than 7300m/24,000ft.
  • As per continental drift theory, Gondwanaland and Laurasia formed the Pangaea super-continent during the Carboniferous (250 million years ago). The mountains were formed when lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate (part of Gondwanaland) under the Eurasian Plate.
  • Himalayas have a profound effect on the climate of the region, helping to keep the monsoon rains on the Indian plain and limiting rainfall on the Tibetan plateau.
  • Its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river.

Geography

Parallel mountain ranges

Major Longitudinal Belts from south to north. These are converging ranges, separated by deep valleys creating a highly dissected topography.

  1. Outer/Sub- Himalaya or Shivalik Hills
  2. Middle/Lesser/Lower Himalaya or Himachal
  3. Inner/Central/Great Himalaya / Himadri
  4. Trans/Tibet//Tethys Himalaya
    + Trans-Himalaya (considered separate)

Shiwalik Range

  • Runs for a distance of 2,400 km from the Potwar Plateau to the Brahmaputra valley. The width of the Shiwaliks varies from 50 km in Himachal Pradesh to less than 15 km in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Formation: Shiwaliks were formed last of all the ranges (2-20 million years ago). The Shiwaliks are consolidated sands, gravels and conglomerate deposits which were brought by the rivers flowing from the higher ranges. These deposits were folded and hardened due to compression offered by the northward movement of Indian plate.
  • Valleys are part of synclines and hills are part of anticlines or antisynclines.
  • Formation of Duns: The conglomerates, in the initial stages of deposition, obstructed the courses of the rivers draining from the higher reaches of the Himalayas and formed temporary lakes. With passage of time, these temporary lakes accumulated more and more conglomerates. The conglomerates were well settled at the bottom of the lakes. When the rivers were able to cut their courses through the lakes filled with conglomerate deposits, the lakes were drained away leaving behind plains called ‘duns’ or ‘doons’ in the west and ‘duars’ in the east. Dehra Dun in Uttarakhand is the best example [75 km long and 15-20 km wide].

Lesser Himalaya

  • Lower Himalayan ranges are 60-80 km wide and about 2400 km in length. Elevations vary from 3,500 to 4,500 m above sea level.
  • Lower Himalayas have steep, bare southern slopes [steep slopes prevents soil formation] and more gentle, forest covered northern slopes.
  • In Uttarakhand, the Middle Himalayas are marked by the Mussoorie and the Nag Tibba ranges.
  • Majority of the Himalayan hill resorts like Shimla, Mussoorie, Ranikhet, Nainital, Almora and Darjeeling, etc. are located here.
  • Ranges:
    • Pir Panjal Range: In J&K – HP states; Valleys – Kashmir, Kangra (strike valley extending from the foot of the Dhaola Dhar Range to the south of Beas), Kullu (transverse valley in the upper course of the Ravi)
    • Dhola Dhar Range
    • Massourie & Nag Tibba Range
    • Mahabharat Lekh

Great Himalayas

  • Also known as Greater Himalayas or Himadri.
  • This is the highest range of Himalayas and other near-highest peaks lies in this range.
  • Average elevation of 6,100 m above sea level and an average width of about 25 km.

Other Major Groups:

Eastern & Western Himalayas

  • Eastern Himalaya: Covers Eastern Nepal, NE India, Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar. This is also known as Biodiversity Hotspot.
  • Western Himalaya / Punjab Himalaya:
    • Afghanistan, Pakistan, India till central Nepal.
    • All five tributary rivers of the Indus in the Punjab region (Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) originate from the Western Himalaya.
    • Includes: Zaskar Range, Pir Panjal Range, Siwalik Range*, Great Himalayas, Dhaola Dhar Range.

Garhwal Himalaya:

  • Mountain ranges located in the state of Uttarakhand, India.
  • Part of Shivalik hills.
  • The mountain ranges cross two regions: Garhwal division and Kumaon division.
    ** Garhwal Division (land of forts) contains: Nanda Devi, Kamet, Chaukhamba, Trisul, Dunagiri, Kedarnath, Swargarohini
    ** Kumaon’s name is apparantly derived from Kurmanchal – tortoise incarnation of Vishnu

Gangotri Group:

  • Rings Gangotri glacier with peaks with religious significations & difficult routes.
  • Climb to Thalay Sagar, Shivling, and Meru got prestigious Piolet d’Or (French of Golden Ice Axe) award.
  • Mountains: Chaukhamba, Kedarnath, Thalay Sagar, Shivling, Meru, Bhagirathi, Swargarohini, Kaalanag, Bandarpoonchh.
    • Chaukhamba (I-IV). A four-summitted massif; Chaukhamba I, 7,138 m (23,419 ft), is the highest peak in the group.
    • Kedarnath (Mountain), 6,940 m (22,769 ft), the highest peak on the southwest side of the glacier
    • Thalay Sagar, 6,904 m (22,651 ft), a steep rock spire, and perhaps the most difficult summit to attain in the entire group.
    • Shivling, 6,543 m (21,467 ft), another steep rock peak, with two summits, and the most striking as viewed from Gaumukh, the pilgrimage site at the mouth of the glacier. A symbol of the god Shiva, it is the most revered peak in the group.
    • Meru, 6,660 m (21,850 ft), lies between Thalay Sagar and Shivling, and has some highly challenging routes, only recently ascended despite multiple attempts by the world’s best climbers.
    • Bhagirathi I: 6,856 metres (22,493 ft); II: 6,512 metres (21,365 ft); III: 6,454 m (21,175 ft)], peaks with moderate routes on the back sides, but huge steep-to-overhanging cliffs on the side facing the glacier. Bhagirathi III, in particular, has seen some of the most extreme rock climbing in the Himalaya.

The Eastern Hills – Purvanchal: A chain of hills in North-East India.

Jaksar Range

East Karakoram Range

Ladakh Range

Flora

Himalayan vegetation can be broadly classified into four types—tropical, subtropical, temperate, and alpine—each of which prevails in a zone determined mainly by elevation and precipitation. Local differences in relief and climate, as well as exposure to sunlight and wind, cause considerable variation in the species present within each zone.

Tropical evergreen rainforest is confined to the humid foothills of the eastern and central Himalayas. A group of timber- and resin-producing trees— are common. Ceylon ironwood / Indian rose chestnut soils at 600 and 2,400 feet; bamboos grow on steep slopes; oaks and Indian horse chestnuts grow on the lithosol (shallow soils consisting of imperfectly weathered rock fragments), Alder trees are found along the watercourses on the steeper slopes. At higher elevations – Himalayan screw pine & palms.

Giong westward, the rainforests has tropical deciduous forests: sal (Wet sal on high plateaus, dry sal forests prevail higher up at 4,500 feet). Temperate mixed forests extend from about 4,500 to 11,000 feet and contain conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees, oaks and conifers. Chir pine is the dominant species at elevations from 2,700 to 5,400 feet. Deodar cedar, a highly valued endemic species, grows mainly in the western part of the range. Of the other conifers, blue pine and morinda spruce first appear between about 7,300 and 10,000 feet.

The alpine zone, begins above the tree line (10,000ft+), has all the wet and moist alpine vegetation. Juniper is widespread, especially on sunny sites, steep and rocky slopes, and drier areas. Rhododendron occurs everywhere but is more abundant in the wetter parts of the eastern Himalayas, where it grows in all sizes from trees to low shrubs. Mosses and lichens grow in shaded areas at lower levels in the alpine zone where the humidity is high; flowering plants are found at high elevations.

Trees Summary: Pine, Maple, Oak, Brown oak, Rhododendrone, Shilver Birches (Bhoj Tree), Marigold

Fauna

  • The past presence: Some African animals, such as giraffes and the hippopotamuses.
  • Elephants and rhinoceroses are restricted to parts of the forested Tarai region,
  • Asiatic black bears, clouded leopards, langurs (a long-tailed Asian monkey), and Himalayan goat antelopes (e.g., the tahr) are some of the denizens of the Himalayan forests.
  • The Indian rhinoceros & musk deer are dwindling. The Kashmir stag, or hangul, is near extinction.
  • At higher elevations, snow leopards, brown bears, lesser pandas, and Tibetan yaks have limited populations. Above the tree line the most numerous animals, however, are diverse types of insects, spiders, and mites, which are the only animal forms that can live as high up as 20,700 feet (6,300 metres). Other animals: Japalura Lizard, Typhlops snakes, and Troides butterflies.

Rivers

The Himalayas are drained by 19 major rivers, (Indus and Brahmaputra are the largest).

  • Five rivers belong to the Indus system—the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej—and collectively define the vast region divided between Punjab state in India and Punjab province in Pakistan.
  • Nine belong to the Ganges system—the Ganges, Yamuna, Ramganga, Kali (Kali Gandak), Karnali, Rapti, Gandak, Baghmati, and Kosi rivers.
  • Three belong to the Brahmaputra system—the Tista, the Raidak, and the Manas.

Records

  • Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.
  • Avtar Singh Cheema (1933–1989) was the first Indian man and sixteenth person in world to climb Mount Everest on .
  • Bachendri Pal – First Indian woman to climb Mt Everest (in 1984).
  • Malvanth Purna – Youngest Indian female (13 years and 11 months) to climb Mount Everest (25 May 2014).
  • Arunima Sinha – World’s First Female Amputee

Other facts:

  • Continental drift was explained by Alfred Wegener (who died while researching on the north pole). This theory is baked by-
    • The apparent fit of the continents
    • Fossil correlation
    • Rock & Mountain correlation
    • Paleoclimate Data – coal has been found in cold regions and glacial evidence has been found in warn regions
  • The Himalayas are inhabited by 52.7 million people, and are spread across five countries: Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The Hindu Kush range in Afghanistan and Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar are normally not included, but they are both (with the addition of Bangladesh) part of the greater Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) river system.
  • The southern slopes of Himalayan ranges have steep gradients and northern slopes have comparatively gentler slopes (Scaling Mount Everest is less hectic from the northern side, but because of lots of restrictions from China climbers take the steeper southern slopes from Nepal).
  • Major Physical Divisions of India:
    • The Himalayas: Includes Purvanchal and their extensions Arakan Yoma (Myanmar) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Highly unstable due to tectonic movements as part of continent-continent convergence.
    • The Peninsular Plateau: One of the most stable landmasses; one of the oldest plateaus of the world; south India, central India, Aravalis, Rajmahal hills, Meghalaya plateau, Kuchchh-Kathiawar region.
    • Indo-Gangetic Plain: Between Himalayan & Peninsular region; Monotonous, featureless topography;
    • Coastal Plains: East & West coasts; Sediments due to fluvial action; Highly stable
    • The Indian Islands: Lakshadweep – Part of Coral Islands; Andaman and Nicobar – Build by subduction between Indian Plate and Eurasian plate, tectonically active & has active valcanoes.

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