Skyang Kangri (), or Staircase Peak, is a high mountain peak of the

Baltoro Muztagh The Baltoro Muztagh (, ) is a subrange within the Karakoram mountain range. It spans across the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is the northernmost political entity of Pakistan, and extends into Xinjiang, China. The crest of this rang ...

, a subrange of the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

. It lies on the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

–

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

border, about northeast of K2, the world's second-highest mountain. The name "Staircase Peak" refers to the East Ridge, which resembles a giant staircase with five steps.

Geology

As can be determined from limited exposures, the summit, northern, and northeast slopes of Skyang Kangri consist predominantly of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

s of the Shaksgam formation that are largely covered by ice. Further south and west, exposures of K2

Gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

occur between it and Skyang Luungpa Glacier where the K2 Gneiss is in fault contact with highly folded and faulted

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

of the Shaksgam and Baltoro formations. The lower southeast flank of Skyang Kangri consists of a strip of black

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

of the Baltoro formation that underlies the Shaksgam Formation and is in fault contact with main body of K2 Gneiss that comprises K2.Searle, M.P. (1991a) ''Geology and Tectonics of the Karakoram Mountains.'' John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. 358 pp. Searle, M.P. (1991b) ''Geological Map of the Central Karakoram Mountains.'' scale 1: 250,000. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. The Shaksgam Formation consists of massive, brown-grey, shallow-marine, shelf limestones. These limestones contain occasional interbeds of brown and yellowish

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and light-colored marl. They are weakly

metamorphosed Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

and highly

fossiliferous A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved i ...

. They contain an abundance of

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s that include

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...

s (''Productus sp.'')

lamellibranch Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

s, bryozoans,

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

s and

foraminifera Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are unicellular organism, single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class (biology), class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell bio ...

('' Parafusulina sp.''). The thickness of the Shaksgam Formation is not less than .Desio, A. (1980) ''Geology of the Upper Shaksgam Valley, North-East Karakorum, Xinjiang (Sinkiang) Italian expeditions to the Karakorum (K²) and Hindu Kush.'' Scientific reports, III., Geology. vol. 4. Leiden, Brill, 196 pp. The Baltoro Formation consists of thin-bedded black, foliated

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

s often grading into black slates. The slates are highly cleaved and metamorphosed as high as lower

greenschist Greenschists are metamorphic rocks that formed under the lowest temperatures and pressures usually produced by regional metamorphism, typically and 2–10 kilobars (). Greenschists commonly have an abundance of green minerals such as Chlorite ...

facies. Interlayered with the slates are thin beds of dark coloured limestone and sandstone. These strata are unfossiliferous and presumed on the basis of their stratigraphic position to date to the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

Period. The slates of the Baltoro Formation is part of a thick sequence of well-cleaved black shales and slates that are exposed along almost the entire length of the Karakoram. These black shales and slates include the Singhie shales, Sarpo Laggo slate, and Pasu slates.

Climbing history

Skyang Kangri was first attempted, unsuccessfully, by the party of renowned climber and explorer Luigi Amadeo di Savoia, the Duke of the Abruzzi, in 1909, during an expedition to K2. They attempted the East Ridge, as did a subsequent failed attempt in 1975, in which one climber died and one had to be evacuated by helicopter. The first ascent was made in 1976 by a Japanese expedition, climbing the East Ridge without major incident. In 1980, American climbers Jeff Lowe and Michael Kennedy attempted the West Face of Skyang Kangri, but reached only about 7,070 metres. According to the
Himalayan Index
there have been no subsequent attempts on the mountain. Skyang_Kangri_from_K2_by_Elia_Saikaly

Passes

Windy Gap is a -high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

at east of K2, north of

Broad Peak Broad Peak (; ) is one of the eight-thousanders, and is located in the Karakoram range spanning Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world with elevation above sea level. The first ascent of t ...

, and south of Skyang Kangri.

Sources

* Jill Neate, ''High Asia: an illustrated history of the 7,000 metre peaks'', The Mountaineers, 1989. * Jerzy Wala, ''Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram'', Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, 1990.

References

External links