Yarlung Tsangpo: Difference between revisions

| name = {{raise|0.2em|Yarlung Tsangpo<br/>yar klung gtsang po}}<br />{{nobold|{{lang|bo|ཡར་ཀླུང་གཙང་པོ།}}<br />{{lang|zh-hans|雅鲁藏布江}}}}

| subdivision_name1 = [[China]], [[India]], [[Bangladesh]]

| source1_elevation = {{cvt|5,210|m|abbr=on}}

| discharge1_avg mouth_elevation = {{convert|7700cvt|m3/s535|cuft/sm|abbr=on}}

The '''Yarlung Tsangpo''', also called '''Yarlung Zangbo''' ({{Bo|t=ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་|z=Yarlung Zangbo|w=yar kLungs gTsang po}}) orand '''Yalu Zangbu River''' ({{zh|s=雅鲁藏布江|t=雅魯藏布江|p=Yǎlǔ ZàngbùYǎlǔzàngbù Jiāng}}) is the upper stream of the [[Brahmaputra River]] located in the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]], [[China]]. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China.<ref>{{sfnCite book|author1=Yue-man Yeung|author2=Jianfa Shen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qS6vcLH5nQAC&pg=PA553|page=553 |title=Developing China's West: A Critical Path to Balanced National Development|publisher=Chinese University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-9-62-996157-2}}</ref> ItThe upper section is also called '''[[Maquan River|Dangque Zangbu]]''' meaning "Horse River."<ref>{{cite book | author = Henry Strachey | date = 1854 | title = Physical Geography of Western Tibet, Part 24 | publisher = W. Clowes | pages = 7– | oclc = 1063495284 | quote=The river that carries the longestdrainage of Nari-Mangyul and Utsang to the south-eastward is called by the Tibetans the rTachok Tsangspo, i.e. Horse River. The best of my Ladak informants could not assure me positively of its course below Lhasa, but assented fully to its identification with the main trunk of the Brahmaputra river, as asserted (and all but established) by the geographers of TibetBengal.| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=n8AIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web

Originating at [[Angsi Glacier]] in western Tibet, southeast of [[Mount Kailash]] and [[Lake Manasarovar]], it later forms the South Tibet Valley and [[Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon]] before passing into the state of [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[India]]. Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh, the river becomes far wider and is called the Siang. After reaching [[Assam]], the river is known as the [[Brahmaputra]]. From Assam, the river enters [[Bangladesh]] at Ramnabazar. From there until about 200 years ago it used to flow eastward and joined the [[Meghna River]] near [[Bhairab Upazila]]. This old channel has been gradually dying. At present the main channel of the river is called [[Jamuna River (Bangladesh)|Jamuna River]], which flows southward to meet the [[Ganges]], which in Bangladesh is called the [[Padma River|Padma]].

When leaving the [[Tibetan Plateau]], the Riverriver forms the world's largest and deepest canyon, [[Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon]].<ref>

In Tibet the river flows through the South Tibet Valley, which is approximately {{convert|1200|km|mi}} long and {{convert|300|km|mi}} wide. The valley descends from {{convert|4500|m|ft}} above sea level to {{convert|3000|m|ft}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=Tibetan Geography|pages=30–31|author=Yang Qinye|author2=Zheng Du|year=2004|name-list-style=amp|publisher=China Intercontinental Press|isbn=7508506650|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4q_XoMACOxkC&pg=PA30 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Zheng Du |author2=Zhang Qingsong |author3=Wu Shaohong |title=Mountain Geoecology and Sustainable Development of the Tibetan Plateau |publisher=Kluwer |year=2000 |isbn=0-7923-6688-3 |page=312 }}</ref> As it descends, the surrounding vegetation changes from cold [[desert]] to arid [[steppe]] to deciduous scrub vegetation. It ultimately changes into a [[conifer]] and [[rhododendron]] forest. The tree line is approximately at {{convert|3200|m|ft}}.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion

</ref> [[Sandstone|Sedimentary sandstone rocks]] found near the Tibetan capital of [[Lhasa]] contain grains of [[magnetic]] minerals that record the Earth's alternating [[magnetic field]] current.<ref name="eosweb">{{cite web|url=http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/HPDOCS/misr/misr_html/yarlang_tsangpo.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020611065446/http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/HPDOCS/misr/misr_html/yarlang_tsangpo.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2002-06-11|title=Yarlung Tsangpo River in China|publisher=Atmospheric Data Science Center|access-date=2007-06-27}}</ref>

The basin of the Yarlung River, bounded by the [[Himalayas]] in the south and [[Mount Kailash|Kang Rinpoche]] and [[Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains]] in the north, has less severe climate than the moreadjacent northern (and higher-altitude) parts of Tibet, and is home to most of the population of the [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibetan Autonomous Region]].

The Yarlung Tsangpo River has three major waterfalls in its entire course.<ref>{{cite web

}}</ref> They were even portrayed as the discovery of the great falls which had been the topic of stories told to early Westernerswesterners by Tibetan hunters and [[Buddhist monks]], but which had never been found by Western explorers at the time.<ref>[http://www.tew.org/archived/waterfalls.html Compiled by Nima Dorjee (7 January 1999). Fabled Tibetan Waterfalls Finally Discovered. ''World Tibet Network News. Published by The Canada Tibet Committee. Issue ID: 99/01/07''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927205707/http://www.tew.org/archived/waterfalls.html |date=2007-09-27 }} (retrieved on 14 September 2008)</ref> The Chinese authorities protestedcontradicted, however, saying that Chinese geographers, who had explored the gorge sincefrom 1973 on, had already taken pictures of the falls in 1987 from a helicopter.<ref name="liquidthunder2">[http://outside.away.com/tsangpo/liquid_thunder_2.html Peter Heller (July 2002). Liquid Thunder. ''Outside Online''.] (retrieved on 14 September 2008)<br />

[http://ingles.sge.org/sge07/07/antonio_perez.asp Antonio Perezgrueso (undated). The Echo of Liquid Thunder.] (span. original: [http://www.sge.org/sge07/07/antonio_perez.asp Los ecos del trueno líquido]) ''Explorations and Expeditions'' on the English pages of the ''[[Sociedad Geográfica Española]]'' (retrieved on 14 September 2008)<br /ref><ref>

[{{cite web |url=http://www.louisville.edu/~pmboyl02/hiddenfalls.html|author=Patrick ''WhoBoylan|date=2 foundNovember it2001 first?'']|title=Controversy noSurrounded longerHidden existingFalls |website,=www.louisville.edu quoted|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050503170017/http://www.louisville.edu/~pmboyl02/hiddenfalls.html |archive-date=2005-05-03}} Quoted without further information on [{{cite web |website=The Search for Shambhala |url=http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/02files/Shangri_La.html ''The Ancients. |title=Shangri-La Found''] as:– Who found it first? "|quote=Little attention was paid to the Chinese team that had been striking for the falls during that fateful trekking season. They claimed to have reached the falls before Baker but were ignored for the most part by everybody except their government who decided to close the gorge to westerners." (retrieved on |access-date=14 September 2008)}}</ref>

Since the 1990s the Yarlung Tsangpo River has been the destination of a number of teams that engage in exploration and [[whitewater kayaking]].<ref>{{Cite newsweb|url=http://www.tibethiddenfalls.com|titlewebsite=Tibet Hidden Falls {{!}}|access-date=2017-03-16 The|title=1994, Hidden1995 Lands& of1997 Tibet Expeditions |accessurl-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316114108/http://www.tibethiddenfalls.com/ |archive-date=2017-03-16}}</ref> The river has been called the '''"Everest of Rivers"''' because of the extreme conditions of the river.<ref name="outside.away.com">[http://outside.away.com/outside/system/pressroom/tsangpo_press_release.html Press release of successful kayak run]</ref> The first attempt to run was made in 1993 by a Japanese group who lost one member on the river.

In October 1998, a [[kayaking]] expedition sponsored by the [[National Geographic Society]] attempted to navigate the [[Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon]]. Troubled by unanticipated high water levels, the expedition ended in tragedy with the death of expert kayaker [[Doug Gordon]].<ref>{{Citationcite book |last=Walker |first=Wickliffe W. |author-link=Wickliffe Walker needed|date=FebruarySeptember 20212000 |title=Courting the Diamond Sow: A Whitewater Expedition on Tibet's Forbidden River |publisher=National Geographic |isbn=978-0-7922-7960-0}}</ref>

In November 2020, the chairman of [[Power Construction Corporation of China|PowerChina]] announced the construction of a "super" dam on the Yarlung Zangbo which would be the world's largest hydroelectric project.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patranobis|first=Sutirtho|date=2020-11-29|editor-last=Janardhanan|editor-first=Vinod|title=China to build a super dam on its part of Brahmaputra river|website=Hindustan Times |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/china-to-build-a-super-dam-on-its-part-of-brahmaputra-river/story-i4No1OJ9JuxMEJEwCtNrTO.html|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref>

[[frCategory:YarlungZhongba ZangboCounty]]