Environment

Mass wasting in Tibet’s Sedongpu Gully

September 2 , 2024 15 hrs 0 min 27 0

The high frequency of mass wasting events in the Sedongpu Gully of the Tibetan Plateau since 2017 and the rapid warming of the area could affect India.
This area rarely experienced temperatures beyond 0º C before 2012.
But, the nearby weather stations at Bomi and Linzhi revealed that the annual temperature in this area increased at rates of 0.34º to 0.36º C during 1981-2018
The Sedongpu Gully, in the catchment of the Sedongpu glacier and its valley, is 11 km long and covers 66.8 sq. km.
It drains into the Yarlung Zangbo, or the Tsangpo River, near where it takes a sharp turn — called the Great Bend.
While flowing around Mt. Namcha Barwa (altitude 7,782 metres) and Mt. Gyala Peri (7,294 metres) to create a gorge 505 km long and 6,009 metres deep.
This is one of the deepest gorges on the earth.
Mass wasting is the gravity-influenced movement of rock and soil down a slope.
A gully is a landform created by erosion from running water, mass movement or both.