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Glaciers of the Karakoram Himalaya pp 1–35Cite as

The Regional Context

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Part of the book series: Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research ((AAHER))

Abstract

The Karakoram Himalaya comprises the highest, most heavily glacierised watersheds of the upper Indus and Yarkand River basins. It is set within other vast mountain systems of High Asia that support more than 100,000 km2 of perennial snow and ice cover. The chapter situates the Karakoram in this Central Asian context and outlines key aspects of the regional environment. A variety of other cold region or cryosphere features are of interest including seasonal snow covers and perennially frozen ground or permafrost. These affect much greater areas than the glaciers, as do periglacial conditions and snow avalanches. Rock glaciers are concentrated in some parts, periglacial systems closely related to glaciation in distribution, climate responses and genesis. Two main aspects of the Karakoram environment are reviewed: the region’s geology and geotectonic evolution, and its climate. The glaciers would not exist at all, or be so extensive, without the great elevations created by mountain-building forces. Significant aspects of their morphology and behaviour relate to rugged, steep landscapes developed through deep dissection by rivers and past glaciations. The Karakoram climate is influenced by three seasonally varying weather systems: the predominantly winter Westerlies, the summer monsoon and Inner Asian high-pressure systems. The glaciers are affected by each system, their relations to one another, by their strong year-to-year variations and how, in turn, they are influenced by the high mountain terrain. In the lower Karakoram valleys and surrounding high plateaux, dry conditions are found, including where most weather stations are located. However, the glacierised area is, in fact, largely humid. Measured snowfall and water yields from glacier basins challenge a long-held view of the Karakoram as part of what has been termed ‘the semiarid Himalaya’. Snowfalls in glacier source areas are in the range 1,000–2,000 mm water equivalent. Also, summer snowfall at high elevations will be shown to be a major factor in sustaining the glaciers, whereas winter precipitation dominates in weather station records. Estimates of the much-studied snowlines are shown to be problematic since they occur where freeze–thaw cycles, wind and avalanche redistribution of snow, are concentrated. The importance of Karakoram glaciers for the flows of the Yarkand River and main stem of the Indus is outlined.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are considerable differences in the glacial areas quoted in the literature, evidently due to differing nomenclatures, sources of information and classifications. Over the years, various students, including myself, have come up with different numbers as measurement opportunities and concepts have changed (see Annex 1).

  2. 2.

    For citations, page numbers are only given to refer to a specific statement, measure or finding within a longer work. They are not given where the whole work is involved, or studies deal in several places or more broadly with topics of interest, or are important, useful or representative background reading.

  3. 3.

    With due respect to the Vissers, this is a mouthful and SWCAMS not much handier. ‘The Greater Karakoram Region’ is more manageable.

  4. 4.

    That is from Long. 73° 50′ to 78° 10′ East and Lat. 34° and 36°50′ North.

  5. 5.

    The term ‘firn’ refers to snow that persists from year to year on the glacier surface, but there are problems with it in the Karakoram (see Chap. 4).

  6. 6.

    This includes a 28-page pamphlet with statistics for glaciers and lakes and distribution by mountain ranges, subregions and river basins.

  7. 7.

    Most chapters were written in the late 1970s or early 1980s. There has been some updating of these and some more recent supplementary sections added.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Kenneth Hewitt

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Annex 1: Inventories of High Asian Glaciers and Related Resources

Annex 1: Inventories of High Asian Glaciers and Related Resources

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F-4 Glaciers of Pakistan (Shroder J, Bishop M), pp 201–257

F-5 Glaciers of India (Vohra CH et al.), pp 259–291

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Hewitt, K. (2014). The Regional Context. In: Glaciers of the Karakoram Himalaya. Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6311-1_1

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