Brief introduction of mount Everest

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brief introduction

Mount Everest is the main peak of the Himalayas, with an altitude of 8848. 13 meters and 29029 feet. It is the highest mountain on the earth, located at 86.9 east longitude and 27.9 north latitude. Located in the eastern section of the China-Nepal border, the north slope is in Ding Yue County, Xizang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China (PRC), and the south slope is in the Kingdom of Nepal. Tibetan name: Chomolungma, which means "the third goddess"; Nepal's name: Sagarmatha, which means "God of the sky"; West address: Mount Everest.

Mount Everest is in the shape of a huge pyramid. It is magnificent, with extremely steep terrain and extremely complicated environment. Snow line height: 5,800 ~ 6,200m on the north slope and 5500 ~ 6 100m on the south slope. There are three steep walls (north wall, east wall and southwest wall) between the northeast ridge, southeast ridge and Xishan ridge, and 548 continental glaciers are distributed between these ridges and cliffs, with a total area of 1 457.07 square kilometers and an average thickness of 7260 meters. The replenishment of glaciers is mainly formed by the snow metamorphism in the two major precipitation zones of the Indian Ocean monsoon belt. There are various, magnificent and rare ice towers on the glacier, ice cliffs as high as tens of meters, light and dark ice cracks that sink step by step, and dangerous ice collapses and avalanches.

Mount Everest is not only magnificent, but also magnificent. There are many peaks and mountains within 20 kilometers around it. There are more than 40 peaks above 7000 meters above sea level. The famous ones are Luozi Peak (8516m above sea level, the fourth highest peak in the world) and Zhuoqiong Peak (7589m above sea level), Makaru Peak in the southeast (8463m above sea level, the fifth highest peak in the world) and 7543m above sea level in the north. On the periphery of these giant peaks, there are some world-class peaks: in the southeast, there is Jiafeng, the third highest peak in the world (8585 meters above sea level, the boundary peak between Nepal and Sikkim); In the west, there are Feng Kang at an altitude of 7998 meters, Zhuoyou Peak at an altitude of 820 1 meter and Xixiabangma Peak at an altitude of 8046 meters. It has formed a magnificent scene of peaks reaching the DPRK and peaks surging.

Young Everest

Cui Zhijiu, Professor, Peking University Institute of Environment.

Everest left an impression on everyone who walked into her, besides majesty and grandeur, it was her ruthlessness. How many climbers and scientists died for this, leaving endless sighs, feelings and memories. People ask in the song: "Who brought the ancient call and who left the Millennium expectation?" Is there a silent song, or a long-term attachment! "This song is not so much about the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a hymn dedicated to Mount Everest.

Explorers of nature will have a feeling when facing the sea and mountains: the magnificence under the blue sky. "Who is looking at the blue sky day and night" is of course a group of people who are eager for mountains and seas, and Mount Everest is a region with both mountains and seas after vicissitudes. 1960, eight stones recovered by Wang Fuzhou, Kampot (Tibetan) and Qu of China mountaineering team at the top of Mount Everest are Ordovician limestone. They came from the ocean 400-500 million years ago and have now been lifted to the top of the world.

This different experience is really a dream song, and the ancient call finally has a very specific content. Giant fern fossils from the southern hemisphere can also be found in the northern part of Mount Everest, and plate suture zones where rocks of different ages and strata are squeezed together can also be seen on both sides of the Yarlung Zangbo River. All this shows that the whole Himalayas and its main peak, Mount Everest, came from the remote southern hemisphere across the Indian plate and crossed the ocean for 2400 kilometers. While drifting, it slowly rises due to the resistance of the Eurasian plate. Although many faults in the south and north of the mountain eliminated a considerable part of the stress in the earth, they were eventually promoted to the highest peak in the world. Of course, in the process of uplift, there is also the support of granite magma from the interior of the earth, which also plays an important role. The "neck" of Mount Everest-the "second step" at 8700 meters, with Ordovician limestone at the top. In fact, it is the Ordovician limestone over 8500 meters. The "body" part of Mount Everest is granite and metamorphic rocks from the interior of the earth-gneiss and eyeball gneiss. They are all primitive sedimentary rocks, and their original properties have been changed because of granite intrusion and regional geological events. On the side of the East Rongbu Glacier, people often see dark gray-black rocks, which are gneiss. When people visit Xilongbu Glacier, they will see many yellow rocks, namely granite.

About 654.38 billion years ago, after Mount Everest rose to its present height, or before its present height, there were many periods of glacier development during the ice age when the global climate became cold. Glaciers in different periods have large and small scales. According to relevant data, the northern side of the Himalayas includes the Everest region, and the largest glacier area only reaches the foothills, which is tens of kilometers long, unlike people's imagination that glaciers have covered the plateau. In the area of Mount Everest, the Rongbu Temple where the mountaineering base camp is located, in a valley not far away, there is a hill made of stones. The color of the East is black and the color of the West is yellow. This is where the end of the Rongbu Glacier was 18000 years ago. We named it the Rongbu Temple Ice Age according to this glacier relic. Later, with the climate warming, the glacier retreated to Longde Temple, and a pile of hills piled up at the end of the glacier. The time was about 5000 years ago, and we called it the glacial stage of Longde Temple. What was left at that time was the Zhongrongbu Glacier, which began to appear at 5000 meters. Glacier length is 18km. From 1960, we began to investigate and study the Rongbu Glacier. After more than 40 years, great changes have taken place on the surface of glaciers and inside ice bodies. The most obvious is the change of ice tower forest. In the 1960s, from 5300-5400 meters, the ice tower forest of the Middle Rongbu Glacier began to appear, while the ice tower forest of the East Rongbu Glacier could be seen just by turning a corner. Now, the ice tower forest of Zhongrongbu Glacier has moved up to 5600-5700 meters to be seen. The height of the ice tower forest has also been reduced from 30-40 meters to 20-30 meters. Nevertheless, there is no essential change in the crystal world of ice and jade. The crystal palace-like ice cave was formed after the drainage channel inside the glacier was abandoned. An icicle bears a big stone, and the ice platform is formed by the differential melting of the ice surface. Because the ice covered with stones is protected and reduced from melting, it is lifted very high, while the unprotected ice around it melts quickly and becomes very low. The ice sheet was thus formed.

The ice pagoda forest is the representative of the ice and snow world of Mount Everest, and it is also the characteristic of glaciers on the north side of Mount Everest and Himalayas. Because only in the altitude area with low latitude and dry climate, due to the large incident angle of the sun, the solar radiation directly hits the glacier cracks from above the glacier, causing top-down melting, so that the individual of the ice tower forest can be towering and steep, and the ice tower forest can become a forest. Without any conditions, such as high latitude, small incident angle of the sun and melting of the glacier surface from the side, the ice tower forest will not be high and steep. Only the north side of Mount Everest has all the above conditions, so the ice pagoda forest is tall and beautiful. The snow line here is as high as 6000 meters, so it is also the highest glacier position in the world's mountain glaciers. The altitude at the end of velvet glacier is several hundred meters higher than that of Braun Peak in the Alps, the highest peak in Europe. Therefore, this is a typical continental alpine glacier area.

People sometimes talk about how high Mount Everest is. Some people even argue that we should try to measure the top of the rock through the ice and snow layer at the top, so as to calculate the true height of Mount Everest. In fact, ice and snow is also a kind of rock, but it only exists for a short time. In Antarctica, people regard ice cliffs as coastal types, and you can't rule them out. In the Arctic, the land with a lot of ice underground is also a part of the land. The sea water has been eroded and thawed, and there is also a piece of land missing, so it is not excluded that ice is a part of land. Is it necessary to rule out the existence of ice and snow on the top of Mount Everest? No, the top of the snow and ice is the real top of Mount Everest. People may say, "the unstable ice and snow layer will cause the height of the top of Mount Everest to change." How strange is this? Is the height of the top of the rock always stable? Any professional knows that ice, snow and rocks are not always stable, but only in different quantities. In addition, if Everest measures the height of the top of the rock as some people think, what about the heights of other peaks? What should I do if the height of the rock peak of Mount Everest is lower than the height of the snow top of Mount Everest? Or is it lower than the rock top of Chogory Peak? ..... and how to determine who is the highest mountain in the world? In a word, I don't think it is necessary to provoke this issue and cause possible controversy. (Shan Ye magazine)

Meteorological knowledge of Mount Everest

About the author: Gao Yi Deng, chairman of China Association for Scientific Exploration, and researcher of China Association for Scientific Exploration.

In 1966, 1975, 1980, 1984, he presided over the weather forecast of the national mountaineering team.

Meteorology is a very important aspect of mountaineering activities. I applied the investigation and research results of mountain meteorology to mountaineering activities, made long (3 months), medium (10 days), short (1 day) and near (30 minutes -2 hours) weather forecasts, and published three papers on meteorological conditions and forecasts for climbing Mount Everest and Nangbawa, which can be regarded as doing something practical for mountaineering.

The climate knowledge of Mount Everest mainly includes the start and end time of rainy season, the change of high-altitude wind above 7000 meters and the daily change of surface wind speed at different heights. Understanding the start and end time of the rainy season of Mount Everest is mainly to arrange the climbing plan of Mount Everest, and try to avoid the rainy season and choose the dry season. It is more important for climbing from the north side to understand the change of high-altitude wind above 7000 meters of Mount Everest. According to the experience of mountain climbers in China, the season when the wind speed is less than 6 winds should be chosen to climb Mount Everest. The climate mentioned above is an important meteorological basis for climbers to choose the climbing season of Mount Everest. Understanding the daily variation of surface wind speed in mountainous areas is mainly for the schedule of climbing mountains every day.

Selection of mountaineering season

The rainy season in the north of Mount Qomolangma is from mid-June to mid-September, with the largest precipitation in July and August. The seasonal variation of the wind speed above 7,000m in Mount Everest is mainly determined by the change of the subtropical westerly jet belt (also known as the southern westerly jet belt), and the location of the subtropical westerly jet belt is the location where the strong wind appears. According to statistics, the wind speed over Mount Everest (7000-9000m) is the highest in1-March and1-65438+February, which is generally not suitable for climbing. Based on the above two conditions, the best climbing season from the north side of Mount Everest is from late April to early June, and from mid-September to 65438+1early October.

Mountaineering time selection

Statistical analysis shows that the variation of surface wind speed in mountainous areas is greater than that in plain areas, and the higher the altitude, the greater the daily variation of wind speed. For example, in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in spring and early summer, the daily variation of surface wind speed at an altitude of 4,500 meters is 4.5 times that of altitude 1000 meters. At this altitude, the wind speed at 2-6 pm local time is 5.5 m/s higher than that at night and in the morning.

It can be inferred that the daily variation of surface wind speed at an altitude of 6000-8000 meters is about 6-8 times that of altitude 1000 meters, that is, the wind speed in the afternoon is about 7.3-9.8 meters/second higher than that at night and in the morning. In view of this, I suggested to the China mountaineering team on 1975 that we should "start early and camp early" when climbing in high altitude areas. Since 1975, the China mountaineering team has taken "starting early and camping early" as one of the mountaineering action guidelines. In the Everest region, the China mountaineering team set off at 2 am local time and camped at 2 pm. Mountaineering enthusiasts can determine the time of "leaving early and camping early" according to different seasons and different altitudes. In principle, the higher the altitude, the earlier the departure and camping time, the greater the daily variation of surface wind speed in spring and autumn, the earlier the better, and the smaller the daily variation of surface wind speed in summer, the earlier the better.

Weather phenomenon on Mount Everest

In addition to the above important climate knowledge, you also need to know some weather knowledge of Mount Everest. Mastering these meteorological knowledge is not only helpful for mountaineering activities, but also can learn rich and colorful meteorological knowledge.

glacier breeze

This is a special weather phenomenon on the north side of Mount Everest. Generally, the mountain valley wind with obvious daily changes often prevails in mountainous areas. In a day and night, the phenomenon of alternating downhill wind and uphill wind is called valley wind. Generally speaking, mountain wind is also called valley wind, and air flows from the valley to the hillside; Downhill wind is also called mountain wind, and air flows from hillside to valley. The main reason for the formation of mountain valley wind is that the underlying surface in the valley and the atmosphere in the valley receive different solar radiation, resulting in the difference between the temperature on the hillside and the temperature at the same height in the valley. Generally speaking, it's mountain breeze from noon to midnight local time, and it's valley breeze at other times.

On the north side of Mount Qomolangma, the ice and snow surface is mainly at an altitude of 5300-7000m. After sunrise, the ice and snow surface temperature is still lower than the atmospheric temperature at the same height in the valley, so the downhill wind prevails almost day and night. The downhill wind formed by this glacier distribution is also called glacier wind. Glacier winds are strongest at 2-6 pm local time. The average wind speed below the ground 1000m can reach 10m/s, and the gust can reach 7-8.

Diurnal variation of river flow

Generally speaking, the daily variation of river flow in mountainous areas is mainly determined by the daily variation of glacial meltwater, which is mainly determined by the daily variation of temperature. After sunrise in spring, summer and autumn, when the sun shines on the surface of the glacier, the glacier gradually melts, and the running water flows into the valley, increasing the river flow. About 67% of the flow of Rongbu River on Mount Everest comes from glacial meltwater. Therefore, the flow of alpine rivers is very small before noon, and it is the largest in the afternoon to evening.

See the weather from the clouds.

In mountainous areas, clouds have a certain relationship with weather changes. Experienced climbers can infer short-term weather changes from the morphological changes of clouds, especially when climbing in northern Zhu Feng. The unique "Yun Qi" change of Mount Everest is closely related to weather changes.

The so-called "Yun Qi" refers to the convective "cumulus clouds" continuously generated at the top of Mount Everest. Affected by high-altitude strong winds, it fluttered with the wind. From a distance, it looks like a special weather phenomenon, with a flag hanging on the top of the mountain.

Observations and studies show that most of the "Yun Qi" at the top of Mount Everest floats from west to east, but when a special weather system comes, the "Yun Qi" will also float from east to west.

We know from many weather forecasts for climbing Mount Qomolangma that "Yun Qi" on the top of Mount Qomolangma can really be called "the highest weather vane in the world".

First of all, the wind direction near the top of Mount Qomolangma (8000-9000m above sea level) can be judged from the floating direction of Mount Qomolangma "Yun Qi". Secondly, the wind speed in the upper air can be estimated from the undulating wave shape at the top of Yun Qi.

If "Yun Qi" floats from west to east, and the cloud top is flat and smooth, after leaving the peak, the height of the cloud top gradually decreases or the cloud top fluctuates violently. The high-altitude westerly wind speed is more than 17 meters per second, which is not suitable for mountaineering activities above 7000 meters on that day.

If "Yun Qi" flutters from southwest to northeast, the cloud top fluctuates greatly, and the height of the cloud top gradually rises after leaving the peak, which means that the wind speed in the upper air does not exceed 15 m/s, and mountaineering activities can be carried out above 7000 m on the same day. But a day later, the high-altitude westerly trough will appear, and the strong wind will be accompanied by snowfall. 2-3 days is not suitable for mountaineering activities above 7000 meters.

If "Yun Qi" flutters from east to west, it means that there is an easterly airflow in the upper air, and there will be a low pressure in India in the next 1-3 days, which will bring heavy snow and light winds. Generally speaking, it is not suitable for mountaineering activities above 7000 meters. However, on the north side of Mount Everest, for climbers who are familiar with the terrain and climbing route, they can also use this windy and hot weather to climb below 8500 meters, because the biggest threat to climbers from the north side is strong wind.

If there are few clouds on the top of Mount Everest, no "flag clouds" are formed, and the clouds are almost vertical, it means that the high-altitude wind force is less than 15 m/s, which is suitable for mountaineering activities above 7000 meters. If there are pod-shaped cumulus clouds near the top of Mount Everest, it means that the atmospheric structure near the peak is stable and the high-altitude wind force is not strong, which is also suitable for mountaineering activities above 7400 meters.