Yarlung Tsangpo
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo (Tibetan: Template:Bo-textonly, Wylie: yar kLungs gTsang po, ZYPY: Yarlung Zangbo) and Yalu Zangbu River (Template:Zh) is a river that flows through the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Arunachal Pradesh of India. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China.[1] The upper section is also called Dangque Zangbu meaning "Horse River".[2][3]
Originating from the Angsi Glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, it later forms the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon before passing into the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh, the river becomes far wider and is called the Siang. After reaching Assam, the river is known as the Brahmaputra.
When leaving the Tibetan Plateau, the river forms the world's largest and deepest canyon, Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon.[4]
Description
The Yarlung Tsangpo River is the highest major river in the world. Its longest tributary is the Nyang River. Major tributaries of Yarlung Tsangpo include Nyangchu River, Lhasa River, Nyang River, and Parlung Tsangpo.
In Tibet the river flows through the South Tibet Valley, which is approximately Script error: No such module "convert". long and Script error: No such module "convert". wide. The valley descends from Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level to Script error: No such module "convert"..[5][6] As it descends, the surrounding vegetation changes from cold desert to arid steppe to deciduous scrub vegetation. It ultimately changes into conifer and rhododendron forest. The tree line is approximately at Script error: No such module "convert"..[7] Sedimentary sandstone rocks found near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa contain grains of magnetic minerals that record the Earth's alternating magnetic field current.[8]
The basin of the Yarlung River, bounded by the Himalayas in the south and Kang Rinpoche and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains in the north, has less severe climate than the adjacent northern (and higher-altitude) parts of Tibet, and is home to most of the population of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, formed by a horse-shoe bend in the river where it leaves the Tibetan Plateau and flows around Namcha Barwa, is the deepest, and possibly longest canyon in the world.[9]
The Yarlung Tsangpo River has three major waterfalls in its course.[10] The largest waterfall of the river, the "Hidden Falls", was not publicized in the West until 1998, when its sighting by Westerners was briefly hailed as a "discovery".[11] They were even portrayed as the discovery of the great falls which had been the topic of stories told to early westerners by Tibetan hunters and Buddhist monks, but which had never been found by Western explorers at the time.[12] The Chinese authorities contradicted, however, saying that Chinese geographers, who explored the gorge from 1973 on, had already taken pictures of the falls in 1987 from a helicopter.[13][14]
Kayak exploration
Since the 1990s the Yarlung Tsangpo River has been the destination of a number of teams that engage in exploration and whitewater kayaking.[15] The river is noted for its extreme conditions.[16] The first attempt to run was made in 1993 by a Japanese group who lost one member on the river.
In October 1998, a kayaking expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society attempted to navigate the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon. Troubled by unanticipated high water levels, the expedition ended in tragedy with the death of expert kayaker Doug Gordon.[17]
In January–February 2002, an international group consisting of Scott Lindgren, Steve Fisher, Mike Abbott, Allan Ellard, Dustin Knapp, and Johnnie and Willie Kern, completed the first descent of the upper Tsangpo gorge section.[18]
Dams and hydropower projects
Script error: No such module "labelled list hatnote". In November 2020, the chairman of PowerChina announced the construction of a "super" dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo which would be the world's largest hydroelectric project.[19]
In December 2024, China has approved the construction of the Medog Hydropower Station, intended to be the world's largest hydropower dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo, the project would cost about 1 trillion yuan ($127bn; £109.3bn).[20][21]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Template:WWF ecoregion
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Compiled by Nima Dorjee (7 January 1999). Fabled Tibetan Waterfalls Finally Discovered. World Tibet Network News. Published by The Canada Tibet Committee. Issue ID: 99/01/07 Template:Webarchive (retrieved on 14 September 2008)
- ↑ Peter Heller (July 2002). Liquid Thunder. Outside Online. (retrieved on 14 September 2008)
Antonio Perezgrueso (undated). The Echo of Liquid Thunder. (span. original: Los ecos del trueno líquido) Explorations and Expeditions on the English pages of the Sociedad Geográfica Española (retrieved on 14 September 2008) - ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Quoted without further information on Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Press release of successful kayak run
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
- River from Heaven Documentary film by CNTV (Chinese)
Template:Sister project Template:China Rivers Template:Country topics Script error: No such module "Navbox".