Exploration: Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve

The Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders of India, Pakistan and China with the
northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It begins in

the Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan) in the west and encompasses the majority of Gilgit-
Baltistan (Pakistan) and extends into Ladakh (India) and the disputed Aksai Chin region
controlled by China. It is the second highest mountain range in the world and part of the complex
of ranges including the Pamir Mountains, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayan Mountains.[1][2] The
Karakoram has eight summits over 7,500 m (24,600 ft) height, with four of them exceeding
8,000 m (26,000 ft):[3] K2, the second highest peak in the world at 8,611 m
(28,251 ft), Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum II.
The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world
outside the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 76 kilometres (47 mi) and the Biafo Glacier at
63 kilometres (39 mi) rank as the world's second and third longest glaciers outside the polar
regions.[4]
The Karakoram is bounded on the east by the Aksai Chin plateau, on the northeast by the edge
of the Tibetan Plateau and on the north by the river valleys of the Yarkand and Karakash
rivers beyond which lie the Kunlun Mountains. At the northwest corner are the Pamir Mountains.
The southern boundary of the Karakoram is formed, west to east, by the Gilgit, Indus and Shyok
rivers, which separate the range from the northwestern end of the Himalaya range proper. These
rivers flow northwest before making an abrupt turn southwestward towards the plains
of Pakistan. Roughly in the middle of the Karakoram range is the Karakoram Pass, which was
part of a historic trade route between Ladakh and Yarkand but now inactive.
The Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve and the Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve in
the Karalorun and Pamir mountains have been nominated for inclusion in UNESCO in 2010 by
the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO and has tentatively
been added to the list.[5]
Karakoram is a Turkic term meaning black gravel. The Central Asian traders originally applied
the name to the Karakoram Pass.[6] Early European travellers, including William
Moorcroft and George Hayward, started using the term for the range of mountains west of the
pass, although they also used the term Muztagh (meaning, "Ice Mountain") for the range now
known as Karakoram.[6][7] Later terminology was influenced by the Survey of India, whose
surveyor Thomas Montgomerie in the 1850s gave the labels K1 to K6 (K for Karakoram) to six
high mountains visible from his station at Mount Haramukh in Kashmir.
In ancient Sanskrit texts (Puranas), the name Krishnagiri (black mountains) was used to
describe the range.[8][9]
Exploration[edit]
Due to its altitude and ruggedness, the Karakoram is much less inhabited than parts of the
Himalayas further east. European explorers first visited early in the 19th century, followed
by British surveyors starting in 1856.
The Muztagh Pass was crossed in 1887 by the expedition of Colonel Francis
Younghusband[10] and the valleys above the Hunza River were explored by General Sir George K.
Cockerill in 1892. Explorations in the 1910s and 1920s established most of the geography of the
region.
The name Karakoram was used in the early 20th century, for example by Kenneth Mason,[6] for
the range now known as the Baltoro Muztagh. The term is now used to refer to the entire range
from the Batura Muztagh above Hunza in the west to the Saser Muztagh in the bend of
the Shyok River in the east.
Hunza Valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan
Floral surveys were carried out in the Shyok River catchment and from Panamik to Turtuk village
by Chandra Prakash Kala during 1999 and 2000.[11][12]
Geology and glaciers[edit]

The Karakoram is in one of the world's most geologically active areas, at the plate boundary
between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate.[13] A significant part, 28-50% of the
Karakoram Range covering an area of more than 15000 km^2 area [14] is glaciated, compared to
the Himalaya (8-12%) and Alps (2.2%).[15] Mountain glaciers may serve as an indicator of climate
change, advancing and receding with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation. The
Karakoram glaciers are slightly retreating,[16][17][18] unlike the Himalayas where glaciers are losing
mass at significantly higher rate, many Karakoram glaciers are covered in a layer of rubble which
insulates the ice from the warmth of the sun. Where there is no such insulation, the rate of retreat
is high.[19]
The Karakoram during the Ice Age[edit]

In the last ice age, a connected series of glaciers stretched from western Tibet to Nanga Parbat,
and from the Tarim basin to the Gilgit District.[20][21][22] To the south, the Indus glacier was the main
valley glacier, which flowed 120 kilometres (75 mi) down from Nanga Parbat massif to 870
metres (2,850 ft) elevation.[20][23] In the north, the Karakoram glaciers joined those from the Kunlun
Mountains and flowed down to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in the Tarim basin.[22][24]
While the current valley glaciers in the Karakoram reach a maximum length of 76 kilometres
(47 mi), several of the ice-age valley glacier branches and main valley glaciers, had lengths up to
700 kilometres (430 mi). During the Ice Age, the glacier snowline was about 1,300 metres
(4,300 ft) lower than today.[22][23]
Highest peaks[edit]
K2
Highest Karakoram peaks in the Baltoro region as seen from International Space Station
The highest peaks of the Karakoram are:
 K2: 8,611 metres (28,251 ft)

 Gasherbrum I: 8,080 metres (26,510 ft)
 Broad Peak: 8,051 metres (26,414 ft)
 Gasherbrum II: 8,035 metres (26,362 ft)
 Gasherbrum III: 7,952 metres (26,089 ft)
 Gasherbrum IV: 7,925 metres (26,001 ft)
 Distaghil Sar: 7,885 metres (25,869 ft)
 Kunyang Chhish: 7,852 metres (25,761 ft)
 Masherbrum I: 7,821 metres (25,659 ft)
 Batura I: 7,795 metres (25,574 ft)
 Rakaposhi: 7,788 metres (25,551 ft)
 Batura II: 7,762 metres (25,466 ft)
 Kanjut Sar: 7,760 metres (25,460 ft)

Exploration: Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve

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The Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders of India, Pakistan and China with the

northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It begins in

Geology and glaciers[edit]

The Karakoram during the Ice Age[edit]

Highest Karakoram peaks in the Baltoro region as seen from International Space Station

The highest peaks of the Karakoram are:

 K2: 8,611 metres (28,251 ft)

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