Siachen Glacier

Siachen Glacier

Context: In his press conference on January 12, on the eve of Army Day, the Indian Army Chief, General Naravane, reportedly made an intriguing reference to the possibility of “demilitarisation of the glacial region” in Siachen.

Concept:

• The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about 421226°N 77.109540°E, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends.
• At 76 km (47 mi) long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world’s non-polar areas.
• At 76 km (47 mi) long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world’s non-polar areas.
• The Siachen Glacier lies immediately south of the great drainage divide that separates the Eurasian Plate from the Indian subcontinent in the extensively glaciated portion of the Karakoram sometimes called the “Third Pole”. The glacier lies between the Saltoro Ridge immediately to the west and the main Karakoram range to the east.
• largest ice sheets, called continental glaciers, spread over vast areas. Today, continental glaciers cover most of Antarctica and the island of Greenland.

How Glaciers Form?

• Glaciers begin forming in places where more snow piles up each year than melts. Soon after falling, the snow begins to compress, or become denser and tightly packed. It slowly changes from light, fluffy crystals to hard, round ice pellets. New snow falls and buries this granular The hard snow becomes even more compressed. It becomes a dense, grainy ice called firn. The process of snow compacting into glacial firn is called firnification.
• Glaciers eventually deposit their loads of rock, dirt, and gravel. These materials are called moraine. Piles of moraine dumped at a glacier’s end, or snout, are called terminal moraines.

Threats to Glaciers

• The processes that remove snow, ice, and moraine from a glacier or ice sheet are called  Ablation includes melting, evaporation, erosion, and calving.
• Glaciers melt when ice melts more quickly than firn can accumulate. Earth’s average temperature has been increasing dramatically for more than a century. Glaciers are important indicators of global warming and climate change in several ways.
• Melting ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels. As ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland melt, they raise the level of the ocean. Tons of fresh water are added to the ocean every day. In March 2009, a 160-square-mile piece of the Wilkins Ice Shelf broke off of the Antarctic Peninsula. Large icebergs created by such an event create hazards for shipping.
• Large additions of fresh water also change the ocean ecosystem. Organisms, such as many types of corals, depend on salt water for survival. Some corals may not be able to adjust to a more freshwater habitat.
• The loss of glacial ice also reduces the amount of fresh water available for plants and animals that need fresh water to survive. Glaciers near the Equator, such as those on the tropical island of Papua or in South America, are especially at risk.
• A few glaciers may actually be benefiting from global warming. Although winter temperatures are rising, so is the amount of snowfall in areas like Pakistan’s Upper Indus River Basin. Glaciers are growing quickly there.