"Suspended glacier"

Ice waterfall wonders only appear on the glaciers with abundant and fast melting. If the melting is fast and the supply is insufficient, the ice waterfall will stop and form a "suspended glacier"; if the melting is too fast and the melting is not enough, the ice and snow will bury the cliff. Midui glacier is a glacier wonder with spiritual balance in both supplement and ablation

Suspended glacier

This entry is compiled and applied by "popular science China" Science Encyclopedia

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Hanging glacier, the snow on the hillside, forms a glacier hanging on the hillside under suitable conditions without falling to the foot of the mountain. It is the rudiment of glacier development. When the climate gets colder and snowfall increases, it can develop into valley glacier. The size of glacier is small, the thickness of ice body is thin, and the area of glacier is usually less than 1 km2. The existence of suspended glacier depends on the amount of ice supplied by ice bucket glacier, which is easy to form and die out.

definition

Short tongue of ice hanging on the hillside, known as the hanging glacier. Generally, they hang on the hillside like spots. The size of glacier is small, the thickness of ice body is thin, and the area of glacier is usually less than 1 km2. The existence of suspended glacier depends on the amount of ice supplied by ice bucket glacier, which is easy to form and die out. Iceberg glaciers are distributed in bucket like depressions near the snow line and formed by the accumulation of ice and snow. The iceberg glaciers are widely distributed and small in scale, with the large ones reaching several square kilometers and the small ones less than 1 km. Its shape is like a spoon, surrounded by steep hillsides on three sides, only a short tongue of ice flows out at the exit.

Cause of formation

Under suitable conditions, the amount of snow accumulated in the ice bucket is greater than the amount of melting. Ice extrudes from the ice bucket and hangs on the scarp outside the mouth of the ice bucket as a small tongue, forming a glacier hanging on the hillside without falling to the foot of the mountain. It is small in scale and is the embryonic form of glacier development. When the climate gets colder and snowfall increases, it can develop into valley glacier.

The existence of suspended glaciers depends on the amount of ice supplied by ice bucket glaciers, which is easy to form and die out. Iceberg glaciers are distributed in bucket like depressions near the snow line and formed by the accumulation of ice and snow. The iceberg glaciers are widely distributed and small in scale, with the large ones reaching several square kilometers and the small ones less than 1 km. Its shape is like a spoon, surrounded by steep hillsides on three sides, only a short tongue of ice flows out at the exit.

Characteristics of glaciers

As the name suggests, this glacier is characterized by the end of the glacier hanging on a steep slope. From a distance, rows of suspended glaciers are like white shields hanging on steep hillsides.

This kind of glacier is large in number, small in scale, thin in thickness, and easy to increase and decrease with climate change.

It is mainly distributed in the middle and low latitude mountain areas. Mountain glaciers develop in the perennial snow area above the snow line, and flow slowly downstream along the hillside or trough. All glaciers in China belong to mountain glaciers. According to the differences of glacier morphology, development stage and geomorphic characteristics, mountain glaciers are further divided into three types

Iceberg glaciers are distributed in bucket like depressions near the snow line and formed by the accumulation of ice and snow. The iceberg glaciers are widely distributed and small in scale, with the large ones reaching several square kilometers and the small ones less than 1 km2. Its shape is like a spoon, surrounded by steep hillsides on three sides, only a short tongue of ice flows out at the exit.

Distribution area

In Gansu Province

The glaciers in Gansu Province are mainly suspended glaciers. Large glaciers of different shapes are developed in several mountains with an altitude of 4000-6000 meters. For example, the tuergen Daban flat top glacier is the largest flat top glacier in Qilian Mountain discovered in recent years, with a diameter of 10 kilometers and a glacier area of 55.55 square kilometers; the Laohugou No.12 glacier on the north slope of Daxueshan mountain with an altitude of 4500 meters is the largest valley glacier in Qilian Mountain, with a length of about 30 meters It is 10 km, with an altitude of 2450 meters at the end, and the ice surface is very clean, with a very obvious continental glacial nature.

Tuanjie peak of South Shule mountain is 5937 meters above sea level. On its south slope, there is a glacier overflowing the valley. The glacier tongue, 8.5 kilometers long, stretches out of the valley mouth and reaches the piedmont plain 4500 meters above sea level. It is a rare iceberg of special shape. Lenglongling in the eastern part of Qilian Mountains is 4800 meters above sea level, forming a small-scale modern glacier; Daxueshan in the western part of Qilian Mountains also has a U-shaped ice trough valley, the valley wall is covered by the debris slope of freeze-thaw mud flow, and the valley bottom has deep ice water deposition.

Tibet

On January 12, 2016, the scientific investigation team of China's great geographical landscape discovery discovered five fully developed giant suspended glaciers in Bujia snow mountain at the junction of Dingqing County, Baqing county and Suo County in Changdu City, Tibet. One of the longest suspended glaciers stretches from the top of Bujia snow mountain to the moraine lake at an altitude of 4200 meters, with a drop height of 2100 meters.

research meaning

According to previous records, the largest suspended glacier in the world is Hailuogou suspended glacier in Sichuan Province, with a drop of 1080 meters. The newly discovered suspended glaciers have good access conditions and rich landscape resources, so the study and understanding of the glaciers will be of great significance to the protection and rational utilization of the ecological functions of the eastern Tanggula mountains.

Address: the junction of Nyainqentanglha mountain and boshula mountain in Southeast Tibet

Longitude: 96.4931690979

Latitude: 29.476295423727

Chinese PinYin : Xuan Bing Chuan