Mingyong Glacier

Mingyong Glacier

Mingyong glacier (also known as nainuogeru glacier), located in Shangri-La City, Diqing Prefecture, Yunnan Province, is the longest glacier under Kawagebo peak, a low latitude tropical monsoon marine modern glacier, which is called “mingyongqia” in Tibetan, and “Mingyong” is the next village under the glacier. “Cha” is the meaning of melting water. “Mingyong” is the fire basin. It is named “Mingyong” because of the ups and downs of the mountains around the village and the mild climate.

The Mingyong Glacier is the largest, longest, and lowest end elevation valley glacier in Yunnan Province and is one of the long stretches of ice under the Kawagbo Peak. The snow line it is on is low, the temperature is high, it melts quickly, and it survives on precipitation, so it moves fast. The Tibetan word for the glacier is “Akinaga Cha”, “Akinaga” is the name of the next village on the glacier, and “Cha” is the word for the water melted by the glacier. “The village is named after the rolling hills and mild climate that surround it.

The entire glacier extends about 5km north-south and 3km wide east-west, forming a huge ice depression, where the meltwater pools into a lake on clear summer days. In the southern side of the Mingyong Glacier, a north-east trending mountain range, there are several residual summit faces, sloping towards the north-east, its elevation is about 5500m. flat-topped mountain range covered with ice and snow to form an ice cap, the west slope ice and snow flow people Mingyong Glacier large-grain snow basin south of the ice and snow corridor, the north slope ice and snow flow people under the cliff to form five hanging glaciers and regeneration glaciers. As a result, the upper source glaciers in the Ming Yong Valley are diverse in type, and the Ming Yong Glacier itself, with its changing ice surface geomorphology, constitutes a unique glacial spectacle in northwest Yunnan.

Feature

Mingyong Glacier is the largest, longest and lowest elevation valley glacier in Yunnan Province, mainly because it has a huge mountain body, the difference between the peak and the end of the glacier is about 4080m, the mountain body above the snow line is 1-3km wide, more than 6000m above sea level, the peak of more than 5000m above sea level is over 5. The average annual temperature in the peak area is low, and the average annual temperature in the Kager Thin Peak is estimated to be -19.2°C, and the average annual temperature at the snow line elevation of 4800 to 5200m is about -3 to 5.6°C, with an annual precipitation of about 1500mm (Su Zhen and Pu Jianchen, 1996).

Plus the back wall of the grain snow basin avalanche recharge, there is a rich accumulation of snow and ice, it is estimated that the grain snow basin ice thickness of 200 a 300m, a large number of snow and ice overflow grain snow basin along the steep slope and down, the formation of a two-stage huge ice waterfall valley glaciers, is the Transverse Mountains in addition to the long 13.6km in the Gunga Mountains after the second longest glacier in the valley.

The Mingyong Glacier Grain Snow Basin has grown wide and flat, and there are two large snow depressions in its northern part. In addition to the flowing large snow basin, some of the snow in the northernmost snow depression overflows the saddle of the eastern side of the mountain, forming an overhanging glacier that hangs over the upper part of the steep slope. The rear wall of the large-grain snow basin is steep with numerous avalanche grooves and avalanche cones. The southern part of the large-grain snow basin is a narrow, elongated corridor of snow and ice, with much of the ice coming from the slope area snow on the southern side of the main peak and the northwestern slope of the small ice cap southeast of the main peak. The entire large snow basin extends from north to south for about 5km, and is about 3km wide from east to west, forming a huge snowy depression. Summer sunny days, snow and ice melt water gathered into a lake, according to the village head of the big Zasi, the diameter of the lake is about 50m, the lake is blue-black, shallow depth, night and freezing, is a rare grain of snow basin wonders of the transected mountain area.

When a large amount of snow and ice crossed the ice canal at the exit of the snow basin, it was divided into two large and small ice streams by three ice rimstone mountains, which converged at a slope of 300 to 400 to form a large ice waterfall that rushed down to the northeast, about 2km long, with a difference of about 1,000m in height. The slope slows down below 4000m above sea level, a huge glacial platform of 5″-10″, 2km long and 1.5km wide; then the ice flow to the south-east 300, the slope of 30″-35″, forming the second huge ice waterfall, about lkm long, the ice surface is full of longitudinal and transverse fissures, forming a variety of ice walls, ice columns. The downward movement and pushing of the glacier often results in the collapse of the ice body, which makes a loud noise. We see the ice waterfall in the lower part of the ice avalanche to form a broken ice flow of more than 100 meters long and 30 meters wide; the second ice waterfall at an altitude of about 3,000 meters, the slope slows down to about 15″ -200″, the ice surface is about 1.5 km wide, the north is a number of southward projecting arc-shaped fracture zone, the south is toward the north east east longitudinal parallel fracture zone.

As the ice melts, a series of parallel ice valleys up to 20 to 30m high are formed with intersecting ice ridges. In the lower part of the ice tongue, the ice tongue is turned to the north east direction, to the end of the ice tongue at an altitude of 266Om, about 3km long and 300-1000m wide, the upper part of the ice tongue is a thin layer of surface sulphur cover, the thin layer of surface debt (rock chips, gravel) in the form of patchy or flaky distribution, the ice surface undulates, there are small rivers on the ice surface, ice caves, ice natural bridge and ice submerged river channel alternately appear, glacial melt water sometimes flows into the ice well, sometimes from the ice cliff below the gushing out. On the gentle ice surface, ice cups, small ice mounds and ice tables are formed by differential melting; the lower section is a thick layer of surface carbon cover, tens of centimetres to metres thick, forming tall surface mounds and depressions where glacial melt water is transferred to the subglacial river channel. At the end of the glacier is an ice cliff with a slope of 300 to 400 meters and a height of 70 meters, the water gushing out from the ice hole under the ice cliff.

On the south side of the Ming Yong Glacier is a north-east-trending mountain range with several residual summit faces that slope to the north-east, with an elevation of about 5500m. The flat-topped mountain range is covered with ice and snow to form an ice cap, the west slope ice and snow corridor on the south side of the large-grain snow basin of the Ming Yong Glacier, and the north slope ice and snow flowers form five overhanging and regenerating glaciers under the cliff. As a result, there are many different types of glaciers in the upper source of the Mingyong Valley, and the Mingyong Glacier itself, its ice surface geomorphology is also very varied, constituting a unique glacial spectacle in northwest Yunnan.

Scientific Value

It is not only the world’s rare low-latitude, low-altitude monsoonal modern glacier, but also the pride of China. When I went there in early March, the temperature was already so high that I could wear short sleeves, and I was lucky enough to see a huge body of ice collapsing and moving downwards, with a thunderous noise and snow and ice.

Travel Guide

Transportation

• Bus: There is a bus from Deqin Bus Station to Mingyong Village at 15:00pm, 13 RMB per person
• Taxi: 150 RMB round trip

Recommended Itineraries

Route 1: Feilai Temple – Mingyong Glacier

Nearby Attractions

• Feilai Temple
• Yubeng Village
• Other Attractions in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
• Meili Snow Mountain
• Balagezong Canyon
• Shika Snow Mountain
• Haba Snow Mountain
• The bend of Jinsha River
• Tiger Leaping Gorge
• Pudacuo National Park
• Songzanlin Monastery