The best in the world? (with numbers)

Today, with the unprecedented development of transportation, communication and even satellite technology, it seems that there are no more secrets on our little earth. The era of great geographical discovery, which lasted for hundreds of years, seems to end at 19 10 with Norwegian Amundsen's foot on the South Pole ―― Imagine what other unknown secrets are there on earth? What miracle will happen to geographical understanding? Especially when the mysterious Tibet is also set foot on by curiosity hunters, the whole world seems to be clear at a glance, so people look beyond the real world, invest in alien space, or turn to extreme sports and tourism exploration in sports to satisfy curiosity and dispel redundant adventurous spirit. But compared with the excitement of discovering unknown areas, it is obviously limited and lacks stimulation. This will definitely make westerners who want to be the first in everything feel deeply out of place.

But a miracle happened. More than 80 years after Amundsen's trip to the South Pole,1April 8, 1994, China Xinhua News Agency announced to the world that the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon is the largest canyon in the world!

In an instant, the whole country cheered and the world shook. China's major newspapers, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, published on the front page. The discovery and confirmation of the world's largest canyon is the greatest geographical discovery of China people at the end of this century, and it is an important contribution of China scientific community to human exploration and understanding of natural mysteries; Located in China, the largest canyon in the world is a precious gift from nature to China, and it is the luck and pride of China people. Of course, it is also a natural heritage shared by all mankind, which is precious.

The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon is "the last secret place on earth". This comment was originally a sigh from a Japanese scientist in the early 1990s. When China scientists spread it, they all lamented that this was indeed the last secret place. This last secret place on earth has been recognized as "the first place in the world", especially 1998+00, the feat of "the first human crossing the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon on foot" organized by China Scientific Investigation Association in June. People all over the country watched CCTV's endless follow-up reports and enjoyed the magical charm of the Grand Canyon together. Since then, the popularity of the Grand Canyon has suddenly increased. People know that on the majestic Himalayas, at least in visual space, there are two best in the world: Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world; The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world, and its bright future will soon become a hot spot of adventure tourism and eco-tourism.

Where is the geographical location of the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon? It is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in the southeast of Tibet, surrounded by Nange Bawa Peak, and the Yarlung Zangbo River is a horseshoe-shaped bend. The Grand Canyon is a famous intersection of mountains ―― Nyainqentanglha in the north, Hengduan Mountains in the east, and 2,500 kilometers of ice peaks and snow ridges in the Himalayas in the west. Mount Namgyabawa at an altitude of 7787 meters is located at the eastern end of this great mountain range. It is the highest peak in the East Himalayas and the 15 peak in the world.

In fact, every day we can see the weather situation map of CCTV's Weather Forecast most intuitively, and the Grand Canyon is here. There is always a place to show the situation, which is obviously the source of weather changes, so the host always said: In the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there is a precipitation cloud moving eastward. ...

How big is the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon? In fact, the concept of the Grand Canyon area has broad sense and narrow sense. Broadly speaking, it includes the inside and outside of the horseshoe-shaped bend: the hinterland and the periphery, and more than 50,000 square kilometers of Fiona Fang. Bomi, Linzhi and Milin, which people can easily reach along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, belong to the Grand Canyon (peripheral) area; As for the heart zone, it refers to Medog hidden in the mountains. It's so hidden and difficult to reach, which can be explained by one feature: Medog is the only county in China that has no roads so far.

Not that I don't want to. On the contrary, there is no place where people are so eager for the "golden belt" to connect the Grand Canyon with the world. Moreover, it did take a long time and cost a lot to build roads, and many people sacrificed heroically for it, and they also walked briefly. However, before the cheers to celebrate "the county is connected with the national highway" stopped, the excited tears were dried by the cheerful Medog people, and all the three cars driving into Medog were evacuated, the road was ruthlessly destroyed by heavy rain, landslides and mudslides for several days. This happened on 1993. This shows that the natural and geological conditions in the Grand Canyon area are harsh. Even if the state invests, even if the local government is active, even if the road builders are enthusiastic, they can't help sighing for the mountains. This is probably the best in the world, right?

This is the depressing side. Let's look at the exciting side and see what the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, which is the world's number one, has in the world.

Let's list them-

It is that deep grand canyon in the world. It is 504.6 kilometers long and 6009 meters deep, which is longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States and deeper than the Grand Canyon in Colca, Peru.

It is the northernmost part of the Indian plate and the northernmost boundary of the global tropical forest, which makes the tropical climate move five or six hundred kilometers to the north, up to five latitudes;

It is the largest channel for water vapor from the south to enter the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, so it is also one of the regions with the most precipitation in the world. The annual precipitation in Medog County in the hinterland of the Grand Canyon is close to 3,000 mm;

Therefore, it is called "Natural Museum of Vegetation Type". The vertical height of the Grand Canyon is 5000 meters, covering almost all natural zones from polar regions to tropical regions, and it is considered to be the most complete in the world in terms of landscape diversity.

At the same time, it is called "gene bank of mountain biological resources", also known as "refuge of relic species" and "accelerator for making new plant species". It is a prosperous kingdom of plants, animals, fungi and insects, and is also considered to be the richest in the world in terms of biodiversity;

The mountains are high and the valleys are deep, which is one of the most dramatic terrain changes in the world. Especially in the fastest-rising area in the world, the latest research figures show that the annual increase in the Grand Canyon area can reach 3 cm.

From the Nange Bawa Ice Peak, which runs straight into the blue sky, to the dense jungle on both sides of the Grand Canyon, it is the best scenery in the world with its majestic beauty and brilliance.

How was the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon formed? Let's start with the Yarlung Zangbo River. The Yarlung Zangbo River originates from the Gemayengzong Glacier at the northern foot of the Himalayas. It is the highest international river in China, with a total length of 2,057 kilometers. It runs parallel to the Himalayas from west to east, passes through central and southern Tibet, bypasses Nange Bawa, stretches for thousands of miles and flows into the Indian plain. It is called Brahmaputra River, which flows through Bangladesh, into Ganges River and finally into the Bay of Bengal in Indian Ocean. The Yarlung Zangbo River is of great significance in geological science research. This river developed along the geological structure is actually a suture zone connecting the Eurasian plate and the Indian plate. In the distant geological era, two ancient lands were separated from the sea of Wan Li. Due to the movement inside the earth, the Indian plate broke away from the distant mother near the South Pole and drifted northward. When it collided with Eurasia, it was the time when the ancient ocean disappeared, and the connecting line developed the Yarlung Zangbo River. Today, the internal movement of the earth continues, and the Indian plate is still advancing northward. As the forefront, the Grand Canyon region goes deep alone, wedging the land into the Eurasian plate from the south. In the violent uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, rivers deepened continuously, forming an unparalleled Grand Canyon.

Correspondingly, there is also a mountain peak at the end of the West Himalaya, the ninth peak in the world at an altitude of 81.25m-Nanga Parbat Peak; There is also a river, the Great Bend River, which is a branch of the source of the Indian River, and surrounds the Nanga Parbat Peak. Based on the same geological structure, a mountain, a water and a canyon bend symmetrically formed at both ends of the Himalayas is a natural geographical wonder. And these two strange mountains, which geologists call "earthknot", are like two golden nails, embedding the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate.

Finally, how was the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon discovered as the largest grand canyon in the world? What is the value and significance of this discovery in the history of science? The topic of our little book: An exploration-discovery process of the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon, has been carried out by China scientists for more than 20 years.