Karakoram Range

mountains, Asia

Hindu Kush and Karakoram Range

Karakoram Range, great mountain system extending some 300 miles (500 km) from the
easternmost extension of Afghanistan in a southeasterly direction along the watershed
between Central and South Asia. Found there are the greatest concentration of high
mountains in the world and the longest glaciers outside the high latitudes. The Karakorams
are part of a complex of mountain ranges at the centre of Asia, including the Hindu Kush to
the west, the Pamirs to the northwest, the Kunlun Mountains to the northeast, and
the Himalayas to the southeast. The borders of Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan,
and India all converge within the Karakoram system, giving this remote region great
geopolitical significance. The name “Kurra-koorrum,” a rendering of the Turkic term for
“Black Rock” or “Black Mountain,” appeared in early 19th-century English writings.
Physical features
Physiography

Karakoram Range: K2 (Mount Godwin Austen)

K2 (Mount Godwin Austen), in the Karakoram Range, viewed from the Gilgit-Baltistan
district of the Pakistani-administered portion of the Kashmir region.(more)
The Karakorams consist of a group of parallel ranges with several spurs. Only the central part
is a monolithic range. The width of the system is about 150 miles (240 km); the length is
increased from 300 miles (500 km) to 500 miles (800 km) if its easternmost extension—
the Chang Chenmo (Chinese: Qiangchenmo) and Pangong ranges of the Plateau of Tibet—is
included. The system occupies about 80,000 square miles (207,000 square km). The average
elevation of mountains in the Karakorams is about 20,000 feet (6,100 metres), and four peaks
exceed 26,000 feet (7,900 metres); the highest, K2 (Mount Godwin Austen), at 28,251 feet
(8,611 metres), is the second highest peak in the world.
The topography is characterized by craggy peaks and steep slopes. The southern slopes are
long and steep, the northern slopes steep and short. Cliffs and taluses (great accumulations of
large fallen rocks) occupy a vast area. In the intermontane valleys, rocky inclines occur
widely. Transverse valleys usually have the appearance of narrow, deep, steep ravines.
Glaciation and drainage
Because of their great height, the Karakorams exhibit heavy glaciation, particularly on the
southern, more humid slopes. Glaciers of the central, highest mountains include Hispar,
Chogo Lungma, Braldu, Biafo, Baltoro with its famous Concordia junction,
and Siachen (which is some 45 miles [70 km] long). The snow line on the southern slopes of
the Karakorams lies at an elevation of 15,400 feet (4,700 metres); glaciers extend down to
9,500 feet (2,900 metres). On the northern slopes the corresponding elevations are 19,400
feet (5,900 metres) and 11,600 feet (3,500 metres), respectively. Often, glaciers combine to
form complex glacial systems occupying not just valleys but entire watersheds. Seasonal
thawing of the glaciers gives rise to serious floods on the southern slopes. Traces of ancient
glaciation are evident at elevations as low as 8,500 feet (2,600 metres) and 2,800 feet (850
metres) in the Indus River valley.
The Karakorams serve as a watershed for the basins of the Indus and Yarkand rivers. The
formation of river channels, for the most part, occurs in the high-elevation zone, where the
melted waters of seasonal and perpetual snows and glaciers feed the rivers. Suspended
pulverized stone, or rock flour, makes glacial meltwater opaque. Rock flour and eroded
material from the mountain channels give the Indus the highest suspended sediment load of
any major river. Groundwater accumulates in the rocky talus and contributes to the flow
throughout the year.
Geology
Structurally, the Karakorams originated from folding in the Cenozoic Era (i.e., during the past
65 million years). Granites, gneisses, crystallized schists, and phyllites dominate the
geologic composition. To the south and north, the central rock core of the Karakorams is
edged by a region of limestones and micaceous slates of the Paleozoic and (partly) Mesozoic
eras (i.e., about 245 to 540 million years old). To the south the sedimentary rock is sometimes
cut by intrusions of granite. The surfaces of certain areas expose slate, which yields more
rapidly to weathering.
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At the end of the Mesozoic, the region of the Karakorams was characterized by great
structural changes, and the Karakorams emerged as the result of intensive geologically recent
upheavals. There is still frequent seismic activity in the region; some events are of great
violence and often trigger massive rock and ice avalanches. Hot springs are found in several
areas.
Climate
The climate of the Karakoram Range is for the most part semiarid and strongly continental.
The southern slopes are exposed to the moist monsoon (rain-bearing) winds coming in from
the Indian Ocean, but the northern slopes are extremely dry. On the lower and middle slopes,
rain and snow fall in small quantities; average annual precipitation does not exceed 4 inches
(100 mm). At elevations above 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), precipitation always takes a solid
form, but snow in June is not infrequent even at lower elevations. At elevations of about
18,700 feet (5,700 metres), the average temperature during the warmest month is lower than
32 °F (0 °C), and, at heights of between 12,800 and 18,700 feet (3,900 and 5,700 metres), the
temperature is lower than 50 °F (10 °C). Rarefied air, intensive solar radiation, strong winds,
and great diurnal ranges of temperature are characteristic climatic features of the region. The
extreme conditions in high-elevation snowfields cause Büsserschnee (German: “snow
penitents”), the formation of ablated snow hummocks three feet (one metre) or more tall.
Anabatic (upward-moving) winds produce extensive eolian erosion.
Plant and animal life
In the lower valleys almost, all profuse vegetation is anthropogenic (i.e., affected by human
activities). Mountain oases perched on rocky outcrops are watered by intricate irrigation
channels from melting glaciers. The arid and rocky lower slopes support only discontinuous
grazing areas, but extensive undulating pastures intersperse the high peaks. The Karakorams
have upper and lower tree lines, the upper delimited by cold and the lower by aridity; within
these lines is found only degraded, sparse tree cover. Willow, poplar, and oleander thickets
occur along watercourses up to 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). Juniper is found on high slopes
among seasonal snowfields. Shrubs of the genus Artemisia provide sparse cover on the lower
slopes.
Hunting by the local populace, and especially by military troops stationed on the frontiers,
has taken a severe toll on mountain wildlife. Marco Polo sheep, or argali, now breed only in
the eastern Pamirs and migrate to the western Karakorams. Ladakh urials (wild sheep) inhabit
the high, flatter mountains to the east, while Siberian ibex and markhors (both wild goats)
negotiate the craggy slopes. Brown bears, lynx, and snow leopards are endangered species.
The Khunjerab National Park in Pakistan and the contiguous Taxkorgan (Tash Kurghan)
Nature Reserve in China serve as refuges for high-mountain animals. In the eastern
margins, kiangs and several other wild ungulates, including a small number of wild yaks,
roam the desolate plateau. Large raptors, notably Himalayan griffons, lammergeiers, and
golden eagles, soar on the updrafts of mountain winds.
People of the Karakoram Range
Gilgit
Gilgit, Pakistani-administered sector of the Kashmir region.

Leh, India: palace of the kings of Ladakh

Palace of the kings of Ladakh (centre background) in Leh, Ladakh union territory, India.
(more)
The population of the Karakoram Range is concentrated in three towns in the
disputed Kashmir region of the northern Indian subcontinent—Gilgit and Skardu in Gilgit-
Baltistan (in the Pakistani-administered portion) and Leh in Ladakh union territory (in the
Indian-administered portion)—and in small villages throughout the region perched on rocky
slopes or beside raging torrents. Most mountain dwellers are Shiʿi Muslims of
the Ismāʿīli or Twelver (Ithnā ʿAshariyyah) sects. Tibetan Buddhism is prevalent in Ladakh.
Mountain Tajik, who speak Wakhī (an Iranian language), are interspersed with Turkic-
speaking Kyrgyz and Uighurs on the northern slopes, while on the southern slopes military
troops from lowland India and Pakistan intermingle with Kohistani- (Dardic-) speaking
people in the Gilgit district and with the Tibetan-speaking population of Baltistan and
Ladakh. On the northern, much drier Karakoram slopes descending to the oases around
the Tarim Basin in China, population density is quite low. An enclave of Burushaski-speaking
people exists in Hunza and Nagir and in the adjacent valley of Yasin. Their language is not
known to be related to any other.
Despite the marginality and remoteness of the Karakoram Range, the local population has
undergone considerable movement throughout its history. Raiding by caravans crossing the
range and a slave trade sustained by continual warfare caused wide dispersals. Passes for foot
traffic across the mountains, no longer used, led northward from Skardu and Leh and from
the Vale of Kashmir into western China (Xinjiang) via Taxkorgan (Tash Kurghan) and the
ancient trading centres of Yarkand (Shache) and Kashgar (Kashi) and the Tarim Basin oases.
Buddhist monasteries formerly exercised great control over subjects and land in the eastern
valleys.
Economy

Gilgit-Baltistan: Hunza River valley

Terraced fields in the Hunza River valley, Karakoram Range, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistani-
administered Kashmir.(more)
Subsistence agriculture and livestock raising dominate the local economy. Crops are limited
to wheat, barley, sweet and bitter buckwheat, corn (maize), potatoes, and pulses. Tree crops,
especially apricots and walnuts, were once an important local food source. On the lower
slopes up to 7,000 feet (2,100 metres), the growing season is sufficient for double-cropping.
At these elevations the days are warm, the nights cool, and the air clear and clean; the aridity
of the region, however, precludes cultivation without the intricate irrigation facilities that are
a feature of all inhabited areas.
Continual periodic and permanent migration, reliance on central government subsidies, high
infant mortality, and chronic malnutrition are symptoms of the difficulty humans have had
adapting to this marginal environment. Service in military garrisons provides supplemental
income, as do remittances from migrants working elsewhere in India or Pakistan or in
the Persian Gulf states.
Three transmontane roads serve the southern slopes of the Karakoram Range—one from the
Kullu Valley in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh over several high passes to Leh, another
from the Vale of Kashmir also to Leh, and the hard-surfaced Karakoram Highway (completed
1978) following the Indus River gorge from Islamabad to Gilgit and proceeding on to
Kashgar. A frontier road from Lhasa, in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, to Kashgar
skirts the eastern and northern margins of the Karakorams in China. There are daily
commercial flights to Leh from the Indian cities of Delhi and Chandigarh and to Skardu and
Gilgit from Islamabad, Pak.
Study and exploration
Both ancient Chinese documents, interpreted in the 19th century by the German
explorer Alexander von Humboldt, and medieval Arabic works record the pre-European
knowledge of Karakoram geography. Baltistan and its principal town, Skardu, appear on a
European map produced in 1680. Early 19th-century European travelers such as the
Englishmen William Moorcroft, George Trebeck, and Godfrey Thomas Vigne plotted the
locations of major rivers, glaciers, and mountains. The extraordinary topography, along with
protracted military tensions in the Karakorams between Russia and Britain and more recently
between China, Pakistan, and India, prompted many expeditions in the 19th and 20th
centuries. Most English exploration reflected military and political rather than scientific
considerations. Three brothers of the German Schlagintweit family pioneered the study of
glaciers as indicators of global climate change, techniques of climate measurement, and the
representation of mountain terrain on maps.
Other major scientific contributions were made by the Briton Martin Conway and by the
seven expeditions led by the Americans Fanny and William Workman in the early 20th
century. Later geomorphologic studies include those conducted by Italians, notably Ardito
Desio and Giotto Dainelli. Sustained study in the Karakorams in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries was undertaken primarily by Canadian, British, and American researchers, the work
of Kenneth Hewitt, John Shroder, and Lewis Owen being prominent. As a consequence of
this foreign interest and of India’s territorial disputes with both Pakistan and China, the
Karakorams are exceedingly well mapped. In addition, several dozen mountaineering
expeditions visit the area annually.