Himalaya

The Himalaya is 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. Together, the Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest and home to all 14 of 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, is the highest peak outside the Himalaya at 22,841 feet (6,962 m), while the Himlayan mountain system is home to over thirty peaks exceeding 25,000 feet (7,620 m). Etymologically Himalaya means "abode of snow" in Sanskrit ( from hima "snow", and alaya "abode"). The correct name for the range is Himalaya, though the plural Himalayas is often used.

Glaciers and river systems

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 (Uttaranchal), Nubra, Biafo and Baltoro (Karakoram region), Zemu (Sikkim) and Khumbu glaciers (Mount Everest region).

Related Topics:
Glacier - Siachen Glacier - Gangotri - Yamunotri - Uttaranchal - Karakoram - Sikkim - Khumbu - Mount Everest

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The higher regions of the Himalaya 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:

Related Topics:
Tropics - Perennial

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• 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 Tsangpo 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 Irrawaddy, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through Myanmar to drain into the Andaman Sea.

Related Topics:
Irrawaddy - Myanmar - Andaman Sea

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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 http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EAE03/13617/EAE03-J-13617.pdf.

Related Topics:
Salween - Mekong - Yangtze - Huang He - Tibetan plateau

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In recent years scientists have monitored a notable increase in the speed of the glacial melt across the region as a result of global climate change. Although the affect of this won't be known for many years it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of thousands of people that rely on the glaciers to feed the rivers of northern India during the dry seasons.

Related Topics:
Climate change - Glacier - India

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