Chapter 32 plateau of central asia

The total area of ​​Asia is 17 million square miles, which can be divided into five parts.First, the northern plain, which is the great plain on the shores of the Arctic Ocean already mentioned in the chapter on "Russia," then the central plateau, the southwestern plateau, the southern peninsula, and finally the eastern peninsula.The northern Great Plain facing the Arctic Ocean has already been mentioned, so let's start our trip to Asia from the Central Plateau! The Central Asian Plateau starts from a series of lower mountain ranges, which stretch across the center of Asia, all stretching in parallel from east to west or from southeast to northwest, and none of them run vertically from north to south.The surface was severely broken, folded, bent or deformed by violent volcanic eruptions, forming a series of mountain ranges, such as the Yablonov Mountains in the east of Lake Baikal, the Khangai Mountains, Altai Mountains and Tien Shan mountains.The Mongolian plateau is located in the east of these mountains. This plateau is the hometown of Genghis Khan --- the Gobi Desert, and the west side of these mountains is the vast and boundless Great Plains.

To the west of the Gobi Desert is the East Turkestan Plateau, which is slightly lower.And the Pamir Valley, the Pamir River eventually disappeared in the desert of Lop Nur.Thanks to the Swedish traveler Sven Hedin, Lop Nur became famous in the West.From the map, the Pamir River is like a stream in the desert, but it is 1.5 times longer than the Rhine River.Don't forget that everything on the Asian continent is huge. There is a passage on the northern side of the Turkestan plateau, which lies between the Altai and Tian Shan mountains.On the map, this passage is marked as the Junggar Basin, which leads directly to the Kyrgyz steppe.This passage is the only way for those desert peoples who went to Europe to burn, kill and plunder, such as the Huns, Tatars and Turks to march westward.

South of the Tarim Basin, more precisely its southwest, the terrain becomes very complex.A huge plateau, the Pamirs, lies between the Tarim Basin and the Amu Darya (river that flows into the Aral Sea) valley.The Greeks had heard of the Pamir Mountains a long time ago, and they had to pass through this place to reach China from Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.These mountains are like barriers, but people can cross the mountains through a few mountain passes.But the average elevation of these passes is between 15,000 and 16,000 feet.The mountain passes here are much higher than the highest peaks in America and Europe. Mount Rainier is only 14,000 feet, and Mont Blanc is 15,000 feet.All the folds of the surface are dwarfed by these mountains.

But the Pamirs are just the beginning.Starting from this plateau, towering mountains one after another extend in all directions.To the north are the aforementioned Tianshan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains, which separate Tibet from the Tarim Basin; there are also the short but very steep Karakoram Mountains and the Himalayas.The Himalayas, which separate India from Tibet, have an average elevation of 29,000 feet, or 5.5 miles, and hold the record for the highest mountain in the world.Its highest peaks are Mount Everest and Kangchenjunga. The Tibetan plateau is 40% the size of Russia, with an average altitude of 15,000 feet and a permanent population.The Bolivian plateau in South America has an average altitude of only 11,000 to 13,000 feet, but it is a deserted land with few people.

This shows that the limit of human beings to withstand atmospheric pressure can also change with changes in the environment.Anyone in the Rio Grande will feel uncomfortable if they spend a few days in Mexico's lovely capital.They are warned in advance not to walk too fast. If they walk half a block, their heartbeat will become very fast. They must rest for a while to restore their normal state, but the altitude of Mexico City is only 7400 feet. .Tibetans, by contrast, walk up to 100 city blocks a day, often carrying burdens imposed by the Tibetan government on their backs.They still have to go over mountains and ridges, and many mountain passes are so steep and precipitous that even mules and horses are afraid to go forward, but they still have to climb over!For Tibetans, these mountain passes are their only access to the outside world.Compared with Sicily, which is located in the subtropics, Tibet is 60 miles southerly. However, the snow in Tibet does not melt for half a year, and the temperature often drops below minus 30°C.Storms often pass over the desolate salt lakes in the south, raising snow and flying sand, which cast a gray shadow on the lives of Tibetans.

But the Himalayas are indeed a wonderful place for ambitious climbers.This mountain is covered with snow all the year round and stands in the center of the "Continent of Giants" in Asia. It puts the Alps to shame.The Alps, by comparison, are little sand dunes piled up by children on the beach.They are twice as wide as the Alps, cover an area 13 times larger, and have glaciers four times as long as those in Switzerland.There are 40 peaks in the Himalayas above 22,090 feet, and many passes are twice as high as the Alpine passes. Like the mountains of Spain and New Zealand, the Himalayas are young mountains (formed later than the Alps), and their ages are calculated in millions of years rather than tens of millions of years.It will probably take longer sunshine and more wind and rain to grind down the mountain and level it to the ground.However, nature has never shown mercy to the mountains, and she is destroying them day and night.In fact, dozens of mountain streams, streams, and rivers have scoured the Himalayas into countless irregular valleys.The Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra (the upper reaches of this river is in China, called the Brahmaputra——Translator's Note) the three major Indian rivers are happily disintegrating this mountain.

The Himalayas are 1,500 miles long, and compared with other mountains, it is even more special.It is not only the natural border of the two adjacent countries, China and India, but also has several independent small kingdoms hidden in its broad embrace.Among them is Nepal, which is the homeland of the famous Gurkhas.This small independent country has a population of only 6 million and an area three times larger than the Swiss Republic.There is also the Kashmir region (where European granny's shawls are obtained, and the British Sikh Legion is recruited from here), with a population of more than 3 million and an area of ​​85,000 square miles, which has now become a part of the United Kingdom. Jurisdiction (Kashmir: Located in the northern part of the South Asian subcontinent. It was a British Indian state in 1947. When India and Pakistan were divided, the issue of ownership has not yet been resolved. Now India and Pakistan each control a part of the area. The Sikh Legion refers to Sikhs. In the 16th century At that time, Sikhism was prevalent in the South Asian subcontinent. It was derived from Hinduism and integrated Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam——Translator's Note).

Finally, look at the map again and you will see that the Indus and Brahmaputra rivers are so unique.They follow a different course from the Himalayas than the Rhine from the Alps, or the Missouri from the Rocky Mountains.These two great rivers do not originate in the Himalayas, but behind it.The Indus River originates between the Himalayas and the Karakorum Mountains, while the Brahmaputra River first crosses the Tibetan plateau from west to east, and then suddenly turns around and joins the Ganges from east to west.The Ganges flows southward from the Himalayas and the Deccan Plateau in the center of the Indian Peninsula, merges into the Brahmaputra River, and finally embraces the embrace of the sea.

Geologists claim that the Himalayas are still rising today.Just like human skin, the outer shell of the earth can also stretch and change, so the judgment of geologists should be right.As far as we know, the Swiss Alps are slowly moving from west to east, while the Himalayas, like the South American Andes, are slowly rising.There must be constant movement, change and development, the only law of nature's laboratory.The law of the Creator is that those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish.