Engilchek Glacier ( ky, Эңилчек, russian: Энильчек - ''Enilchek'', also Иныльчек - ''Inylchek'') is a glacier in the Central Tian Shan Mountains of

Issyk-Kul Region Issyk-Kul Region ( ky, Ысык-Көл облусу, Ysyk-Köl oblusu; russian: Иссык-Кульская область, Issyk-Kulskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Karakol. It is surrounded by Almaty Region, Kaz ...

, northeastern

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

. Its snout is 50 km east of the village of Engilchek. The South Engilchek Glacier ranks as the sixth longest non-polar glacier in the world and is the largest and fastest moving glacier in Kyrgyzstan. The main glacier has two arms, the North and South Engilchek Glaciers. The latter is longer and provides an overall length of . with an area of and an ice thickness of roughly 150–200 m in the bottom parts. The glacier stems from the Chinese-Kazakh-Kyrgyz massif of

Khan Tengri Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk Kul. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to . For this reason, in mountaineering c ...

and Pik Pobedy and the upper part of the glacier falls in all three countries. Meltwater from the glacier feeds the Engilchek River, a tributary of the Saryjaz (known as Aksu in China), which crosses the Chinese border into the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hyd ...

. Water from this glacier also feeds the seasonal glacial Lake Merzbacher which causes frequent glacial lake outburst floods in the Engilchek River valley.

References

Glaciers of Kyrgyzstan Issyk-Kul Region Tian Shan {{glacier-stub