My Science School

Siachen Glacier is the world's highest battlefield at an elevation of 5416 metres above sea level. At Siachen, the temperature is always freezing, and can even drop to temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius. Apart from the freezing weather, the oxygen level here is as low as 10 per cent of what we have on the grasslands.

Existing as a barrier between the Shaksgam Valley and Baltistan, it holds a significant importance for India by preventing the link-up of the Pakistani army with the Chinese army, thus protecting Ladakh - the Shaksgam valley is under the control of China and Baltistan is occupied by Pakistan. With about 3000 soldiers on duty every day, India spends around 5 to 7 crores daily to guard the glacier. Every soldier who gets to guard the glacier, serves only for about three months, as the harsh weather conditions make it very difficult to survive for longer periods.

Since the Indian army took control of Siachen in 1984, more than 1000 soldiers have died here. This number is almost twice the number of men who lost their lives in the Kargil war! A war memorial with the names of all the Indian soldiers who lost their lives for their country can be seen at the Siachen Base Camp of the Indian Army.

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Mount Everest, located in the Himalayas, is the highest mountain above sea level. The China-Nepal border is across its summit point. In 2020, the Chinese and Nepali authorities marked its elevation as 8,848.86 m. Mount Everest is highly revered by local people like most other mountains in the range and is known as Chomolungma in Tibetan. It means Goddess Mother of the World or Goddess of the Valley. It was identified as the highest point on the Earth's surface in 1852, when the governmental Survey of India established this fact. It was previously named Peak XV but was renamed in 1865 to honour Sir George Everest, the British surveyor general of India from 1830 to 1843.

British mountaineers made the first recorded efforts to reach Everest’s summit. Nepal did not allow foreigners to enter the country at that time, so the British made several attempts from the Tibetan side. The first expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 metres on the North Col, a pass connecting Mount Everest and Changste, a mountain in Tibet. Another expedition in 1922 reached up to 8,320 metres, making it the first instance of a human being's climb above 8,000 metres. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 28, 1953 at 11:30 am local time.

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The Andes mountain range extends from north to south through seven South American countries and is 8900 kilometres long and about 200 to 700 kilometres wide. It is spread across Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina with an average height of 4000 metres. In fact, the Andes range has some of the tallest peaks in the world. The only mountains that are taller than the Andes are the Himalayan Mountains and their adjacent ranges like the Hindu Kush. The highest elevation in the Andes range is for Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. It is 6,962 metres above sea level. The average elevation along the range is about 3,962 metres.

The world's highest volcano, Ojos del Salado, when measured above sea level, is part of the Andes. It is located on the Chile-Argentina border. This vast mountain range is also home to a number of cities including Huaraz and Cuzco in Peru; Quito in Ecuador; La Paz of Bolivia; Bogota and Medellin in Colombia; and Pucon and Puerto Natales in Chile.

Animals in the Andes have to be very rugged and agile. They have to keep themselves warm in order to survive the harsh climate of the region. Chinchillas are one of the popular animals of this region. Their fur gets thicker in the higher altitudes as it gets colder and their ability to jump and climb serves as a protection from predators. Llamas, alpacas and the Andean condor, which is the largest vulture in South America, are some other wild animals to be found here. The Andes is also home to a wide variety of plant population; it nurtures about 30,000 species of plants.

Picture Credit : Google