Map Of The Himalayan Mountains
The Himalayas
The Himalayas are the greatest mountain system in Asia and one of the planet's youngest mountain ranges, that extends for more than 2,400km across the nations of Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The term 'Himalaya' literally means the 'Abode of Snow' and has been derived from a combination of ii Sanskrit words, 'Hima' which means 'snow' and 'Alaya' which means 'Abode'. The Himalayas act equally a mighty barrier between the Tibetan Plateau in the due north and the Indian subcontinent in the south. Some of the highest peaks in the world are located in the Himalayas, including Mountain Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, etc.
Geography Of The Himalayas
The Himalayas are considered every bit the earth's youngest, tallest, and nearly populated mount systems. The Himalayas are bounded by the Tibetan Plateau in the north; the 800km long Hindu Kush and 500km long Karakoram Mountain ranges in the northwest; and by the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains in the south. The mighty Himalayan Mountain Range covers an surface area of about 595,000 sq. km and its maximum width varies between 150 to 350km. The major portion of the Himalayan Mountain Range is occupied by the countries of Nepal, Bhutan, and India, though some parts of this massive mount range are also occupied by China as well equally by Islamic republic of pakistan.
The Himalayan Mountains comprise a serial of parallel mountain ranges which include the Tibetan Himalayas, the Greater Himalayas, the Lesser Himalayas, and the Siwalik ranges. From the westward to east direction, the Himalayan Mountains are farther divided into three regions namely, the Western, Key, and Eastern Himalayas. The Himalayan Mountains are also referred to every bit the "Third Pole" as these mountains contain the 3rd-largest deposition of ice and snow on the planet after the Arctic and the Antarctic regions. It is estimated that in that location are more than fifteen,000 glaciers in the Himalayas including the Gangotri, Khumbu, Langtang, Yamunotri, and Zemu glaciers.
The glaciers of the Himalayan Mountains store more than 12,000 cubic kilometers of freshwater and are the source of some of the major rivers including the Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Yamuna, etc. Many lakes are found in the Himalayan region including the Pangong Lake, Tilicho Lake, Gurudongmar Lake, She-Phoksundo Lake, Manasarovar Lake, Tsongmo Lake, etc. At nowadays, at least 53 million people reside in the Himalayan region.
Geology Of The Himalayas
It is believed that over the by 65 1000000 years, several worldwide plate-tectonic events accept led to the movement of the World's chaff to grade a vast number of mount ranges. About 201 to 145 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, the entire southern fringe of Eurasia was bordered by the Tethys Ocean. The Gondwana supercontinent began to pause up about 180 one thousand thousand years ago, and the Indo-Australian Plate began to motility in the northeastward direction towards the Eurasian Plate. This fast-moving Indo-Australian Plate started gradually compressing the Tethys Sea. The increased compressive forces led to the upliftment of the masses of rocks from the deep depths. The Indo-Australian Plate eventually collided with the Eurasian Plate between forty and 50 million years ago. In due grade, the Tethys Sea completely narrowed and its bounding main bottom was pushed upwards by the subducting Indo-Australian Plate, leading to the formation of the Tibetan Plateau and the mighty Himalayan Mountain ranges. Geologists believe that the Indo-Australian Plate is still beingness continuously forced underneath the Tibetan Plateau, which is leading to the rise of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas at a charge per unit of 5mm per annum. For this reason, the Himalayan region remains 'geologically active' and is highly decumbent to earthquakes, and other natural disasters from time to time.
Climate
The Himalayan Mountains significantly affect the climate of the entire Indian subcontinent. The mountain range acts as a massive climatic bulwark that prevents the cold, dry winds from the northern regions from reaching the plains of the Indian subcontinent. The Himalayas also form a barrier for the southwest monsoons and prevent them from crossing over to the northern side, leading to heavy atmospheric precipitation on the Indian side of the mount range. The annual mean temperature in the Indian Himalayas ranges from -xxx°C to 25°C, while the almanac atmospheric precipitation ranges from one,500mm to more than 4,800mm.
Ecology Of The Himalayas
The massive Himalayan Mountain Range is home to several exotic flora and fauna. At altitudes between 3,000m to 5,000m, alpine shrubs and meadows are found. The lower shrublands are covered by rhododendrons, while the tall meadows support a wide range of flora during the warm season. Juniperus tibetica is the highest known tree species in the Himalayas that grow at an acme of 4,900m in the southeastern part of Tibet. At elevations of 2,500m to 4,000m, temperate sub-alpine coniferous forests are establish. Fir, pine, hemlock, and spruce are the ascendant trees in the area. In the middle elevations of 2,000m to 3,000m, broadleaf and coniferous forests are institute. In addition to this, plants similar orchids, ferns, oaks, and maple also grow in the expanse. The lower elevations are dominated by the subtropical broadleaf forests.
The Himalayan Mountains support a rich faunal wealth. Several studies accept revealed that the Indian Himalayas supports over 280 species of mammals, 940 species of birds, 200 species of reptiles, lxxx species of amphibians, and 316 species of fish. Some of the notable animals that are establish in the Himalayan region include snow leopards, Pygmy Hog, Gee's golden langur, Himalayan musk deer, Namdapha flying squirrel, Asian black acquit, Himalayan serow, Himalayan blue sheep, Himalayan tahr, red panda, Kashmir greyness langur, and many more.
Of the 940 avian species, 39 are endemic to the Himalayan region. Some of the significant birds that are constitute here include the Indian Spotted hawkeye, Black-necked crane, white-bellied heron, etc. Situated at the junction of three important biogeographical realms, the Eastern Himalayas serve as a biodiversity hotspot and support uncommonly rich biodiversity with loftier endemism and numerous globally threatened species. At that place are about 107 protected areas in the Indian Himalayas, of which at that place are twenty National Parks, 5 Tiger reserves, 71 wildlife sanctuaries, 7 Ramsar sites, and 4 biosphere reserves.
Tourism And Threats
The spectacular natural beauty of the Himalayan Mountains as well as the unique biodiversity that is found in the Himalayan region attracts numerous tourists from all over the world and provides back up to the tourism manufacture, boosting the economy of the region. Moreover, the Himalayan Mountain Range is revered as a sacred place by numerous people belonging to different religions such equally Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism.
However, in recent times, global warming and anthropogenic climate modify have severely affected the entire Himalayan region. The higher temperatures have resulted in the melting of glaciers that have in turn severely affected the hydrology pattern of the region. In addition to this, the biodiversity of this mountainous ecosystem is threatened past pollution, deforestation, habitat deposition and fragmentation, overexploitation of natural resources, the spread of invasive species, hunting, poaching of wild fauna, and ever-increasing man-animal conflicts.
Map Of The Himalayan Mountains,
Source: https://www.worldatlas.com/mountains/the-himalayas.html
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