Purugangri Glacier
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The discovery of the glacier On August 20th 1999, expedition team to the Purugangri Glacier with 18 members started from Lanzhou, and after several twists and turns a small storm expedition troops with 6 members finally arrived in Purugangri Glacier on September 6th.
At the beginning they didn’t know it was an ice field. On September 7th they explored along the root of the glacier to find the way to climb up the glacier. On 8th September they started to climb the glacier. This day, they spent nine hours (from 9 am to 6 pm) climbing from the base camp at the glacier root (elevation 5400m) up to the elevation 6200 m.
And they came back to the base camp at 1 am September 9th after eight hours. Just after the long trip exploration, especially after climbing up to the elevation 6200 m, the expedition team found that Purugangri actually is an ice field. The feature of the glacier In order to know much more about the Purugangri Glacier, we need to know how the glaciers are classified. Glaciers can be classified according to location, ice temperature or morphology.
According to morphology and shape, the largest ice sheet of the world is Arctic and Antarctic ice sheet. The second is Svalbard and Scandinavian glacier. But these two kinds of glaciers have no difference in some Plateau areas if the cut in the mountain landscape is very slight. So they are all named ice field or ice flow. The other types are some small-scale kinds. Such as ice caps, valley glaciers, cirque glaciers and hanging glaciers etc.
The existence of ice sheets is a special phenomenon in the polar region. But they were widespread in Scandinavian area during the glacier period until the Holocene coming 10,000-year ago. However, these ice sheets disappeared with the increase of the temperature. Therefore, ice field has also been recognized as a special thing in the polar region for some time. So the name like Svalbard and Scandinavian glacier all carries a strong region feature.
Now some tourists may be curious about the Purugangri Glacier. How does it look like? According to Yao Tandong, head of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Research Institute under the CAS, who is heading an expedition team of more than 20 Chinese and American scientists surveying the glaciers in the Himalayas, such a large glacier is rarely found in areas of low latitude around the world.
He said he had ever been to Juneau Ice Field in Alaska, USA. The view there is really amazing and marvelous. And valley glaciers, cirque glaciers, hanging glaciers and a few ice caps are widespread in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Some ice caps are very big, such as Gooliya Ice Cap, which occupies more than 100 square kilometers. Yao said he had also appreciated the majestic appearance of Gooliya, but all these glaciers would feel dwarfed in front of Purugangri Glacier.
Purugangri Glacier is the largest situated at the low and middle latitude in the world. Discovered by Chinese and American scientists five years ago, it has been confirmed to be the world's third largest after two in the Arctic and Antarctic in the world. With your own eyes, you may tell us whether Yao’s words are true or not.
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