Glacier growing, artificial glaciation or

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

grafting, is a practice carried out in the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

and

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

regions aimed at creating small new glaciers to increase water supply for crops and in some cases to sustain

micro hydro Micro hydro is a type of hydroelectric power that typically produces from 5 kW to 100 kW of electricity using the natural flow of water. Installations below 5 kW are called pico hydro. These installations can provide power to an ...

power. In order to encourage the growth of a glacier local farmers acquire ice from naturally occurring glaciers, and carry it to high altitude areas where the ice is put inside a small cave dug out in a

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. The term ''scree'' is ap ...

-slope. Along with the ice other ingredients such as water, salt, sawdust, wheat husks and charcoal are also placed at the site.Tveiten, I. (2007): ''Glacier Growing - A Local Response to Water Scarcity in Baltistan and Gilgit'', The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Master of Science Thesis
Abstract, pdf 65 Kb
The use of glacier grafting is an old skill of the mountain farmers of

Baltistan Baltistan (); also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet, is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and constitutes a northern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

and

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

, where it is used for irrigation purposes since at least the 19th century. This technique was described by Lieutenant

David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer Lieutenant-Colonel David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer CIE (24 December 1876 in Dundee – 26 February 1962) was a member of the British Indian Army, a political agent in the British Indian government and a noted linguist. The Indian Political ...

(1876–1962) in the 1920s. Allegedly glacier grafting also has been used to block mountain passes.

Background

In the high Himalaya water is the limiting factor for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and many farmers experience scarcity of water in late autumn - a period critical to the maturation of crops. Farmers living in

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

s without glaciers are especially vulnerable since they largely depend on snow melt for irrigation, in contrast to other areas where glaciers are a reliable source of water. In such communities glacier grafting is often attempted as a means to encourage the growth of new glaciers and thus ensure the existence of water resources.

Procedures

The first step involves looking for a suitable location to glacier growing. The preferred terrain, according to glacier growers in Baltistan and Gilgit, is in shadowed scree-slopes overlooked by steep

headwall In physical geography and geology, the headwall of a glacier, glacial cirque (landform), cirque is its highest cliff. The term has been more broadly used to describe similar geomorphic features of non-glacial origin consisting of a concave depress ...

s. Commonly the sites are located between 4,000 and 5,000 metres

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Such locations are susceptible to snowfall and

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

s during winter and spring, creating an environment conducive to the accumulation of ice. Ice is transported in baskets of woven willow twigs by teams of two and two, who take turns to carry the baskets. This usually involves ascents from lower lying valleys (around 2,000-3,000 metres above sea level) up to the site selected for the glacier growing. Similar efforts are being carried out by the noted engineer

Chewang Norphel Chewang Norphel (born 1935) is an Indian civil engineer from Ladakh, who has built 15 artificial glaciers. He has earned the title of ''Ice Man''. Early life and career Coming from a middle-class family of Leh, Norphel went to Amar Singh ...

, in the adjacent

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

region.

References

External links

Adaptation: Ice stupas of Ladakh
Climate researcher

Alizé Carrère Alizé Carrère is a French-American climate researcher, filmmaker and science communicator. As a social scientist, she studies how humans adapt to changing physical environments, particularly with respect to climate change. Her academic researc ...

examines the growing of artificial glaciers in Tibet {{Commons-inline, Artificial glacier, glacier growing Glaciology Culture of Pakistan

Background

Procedures

See also

References

External links