Transhimalaya

The Transhimalayas are geologically distinct from the other Himalayan ranges. They were probably formed by subduction of sediments from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. A consensus of different dating methods suggests that the older parts of this range formed in the upper Cretaceous (82-113 Mya), while the younger regions formed in the Eocene (40-60 Mya).{{cite journal | last = Debon | first = Francois | author-link = | title = The Four Plutonic Belts of the Transhimalaya-Himalaya: a Chemical, Mineralogical, Isotopic, and Chronological Synthesis along a Tibet-Nepal Section | journal = Journal of Petrology | volume = 27 | issue = 1 | pages = 219–250 | date = 1986 | language = | url = http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1018.511&rep=rep1&type=pdf | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.1093/petrology/27.1.219| citeseerx = 10.1.1.1018.511 | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | access-date = 22 June 2022}}

File:Bangong-Nujiang Suture Zone.png . In the north, Bangong-Nujiang Suture Zone separates Transhimalaya from the Qiangtang terrane. In the south, Indus-Yarlung suture zone separates it from Himalayas.]]

File:2_2_himal_tecto_units.png

The Transhimalays generally have a cold, arid montane climate. For example, the Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh, India, has an annual rainfall of about 170 mm. However, studies in Mustang District, Nepal, indicate that climate change is warming the Transhimalayas at a rate of about 0.13 degrees a year.

The Transhimalayas generally have low species diversity (and vegetation cover) and are classified as dry alpine steppes. However, a study in the Spiti region found 23 medicinal plants. Previous surveys in this region had found a total of over 800 species of vascular plants.{{cite journal | last = Kala | first = Chandra Prakash | author-link = | title = Status and conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants in the Indian trans-Himalaya | journal = Biological Conservation | volume = 93 | issue = 3| pages = 371–9 | date = 2000 | language = | url = | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.1016/S0006-3207(99)00128-7| bibcode = 2000BCons..93..371K | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | access-date = }}

The Transhimalayas are home to the once endangered snow leopard, the Eurasian lynx, Tibetan wolf, red fox and Tibetan fox. Native herbivores include the argali, Tibetan gazelle, urial, wild ass or kiang, Asiatic ibex, yak and bharal.

The Tibetan wolf, snow leopard and lynx are major predators of livestock in the Ladakh region of India. Goats, sheep, yak and horses were their most common prey.{{cite journal | last = Namgail | first = Tsewang | author-link = | title = Carnivore-Caused Livestock Mortality in Trans-Himalaya | journal = Environ Manage | volume = 39 | issue = 4| pages = 490–496 | publisher = Springer | date = 2007 | language = | url = | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.1007/s00267-005-0178-2 | pmid = 17318699 | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | s2cid = 30967502 | access-date = }} In Mustang, Nepal, rising temperatures and declining snowfall are reducing the area available for agriculture, forcing villagers to relocate and reducing grassland and forest cover. This has also led to bharal shifting to lower elevations, where they raid crops. In turn, this attracts snow leopards to human settlements, where they prey on livestock.{{cite journal | last = Aryal | first = Achyut | author-link = | title = Impact of climate change on human-wildlife-ecosystem interactions in the Trans-Himalaya region of Nepal | journal = Theor Appl Climatol | volume = 115| issue = 3–4| publisher = Springer-Verlag | location = Wien | date = 2013 | page = 517 | language = | url = https://climatenepal.org.np/sites/default/files/doc_resources/Aryal%20et%20al%2C%202013%20Springer.pdf | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.1007/s00704-013-0902-4| bibcode = 2014ThApC.115..517A | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | s2cid = 120932741 | access-date = 22 June 2022}}

On the other hand, many wild herbivores are out-competed and displaced by livestock.{{cite journal | last = Mishra | first = Charudutt | author-link = | title = Competition between domestic livestock and wild bharal Pseudois nayaur in the Indian Trans-Himalaya | journal = Journal of Applied Ecology | volume = 41 | issue = 2| pages = 344–354 | publisher = British Ecological Society | date = 2004 | language = | url = | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00885.x| id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | access-date = | doi-access = free| bibcode = 2004JApEc..41..344M }}{{cite book | last = Mishra | first = Charudutt | author-link = | title = High-altitude survival: Conflicts between pastoralism and wildlife in the Trans-Himalaya | publisher = Wageningen University | series = | volume = | edition = | date = 2001 | location =The Netherlands | pages = | language = English, Dutch | url = https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/199100 | doi = | id = | isbn = | mr = | zbl = | jfm =}} A historical analysis suggests that the Transhimalayas have lost four wild herbivores over the last millennium or so of human habitation.{{cite journal | last = Mishra | first = Charudutt | author-link = | title = A theoretical analysis of competitive exclusion in a Trans-Himalayan large-herbivore assemblage | journal = Animal Conservation | volume = 5 | issue = 3| pages = 251–258 | date = 2002 | language = | url = | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.1017/S1367943002002305 | bibcode = 2002AnCon...5..251M | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | s2cid = 55372179 | access-date = }} Many parts of the Transhimalayas are now conserved. These include the Kangrinboqê National Forest Park in China, the Pin Valley National Park (675 km².) and Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary (1400 km².) in India and parts of the Annapurna Conservation Area (7,629 km².) in Nepal. In addition to protecting species diversity, restoration of the native Transhimalayan grasslands has also been found to trap more carbon in the soil, mitigating climate change.{{cite journal | last = Wang | first =Dangjun | author-link = | title = Responses of soil microbial metabolic activity and community structure to different degraded and restored grassland gradients of the Tibetan Plateau | journal =Frontiers in Plant Science | volume = 13 | issue = | pages = 770315 | date = 2022 | language = | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.3389/fpls.2022.770315 | pmid =35463442 | pmc =9024238 | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | doi-access =free }}

• Geology of the Himalaya
• Indus Suture Zone
• Transhimalaya, includes the following two
• Lhasa terrane
• Karakoram fault system
• Bangong-Nujiang Suture Zone
• Qiangtang terrane

{{Wiktionary|Transhimalaya}}

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• {{cite book |last = Allen |first = Charles |author-link = Charles Allen (writer) |title = A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of Asia |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nv81AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT142 |access-date = 2015-02-07 |date = 2013-01-17 |publisher = Little, Brown Book Group |isbn = 978-1-4055-2497-1 }}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsta.1988.0088 |last1=Le Fort |first1=P. |last2=Cronin |first2=V. S. |title=Granites in the Tectonic Evolution of the Himalaya, Karakoram and Southern Tibet |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences |volume=326 |issue=1589 |date=1 September 1988 |pages=281–299 |bibcode=1988RSPTA.326..281F |s2cid=202574726 }}

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Category:Mountain ranges of the Himalayas

Category:Mountain ranges of Myanmar

Category:Mountain ranges of Tibet

Category:Mountain ranges of Sichuan