Abstract
THE glacier of the Zarafshan, one of the greatest in Central Asia, which has hitherto been very imperfectly known, was explored during this summer by MM. Mushketoff, geologist, and Ivanoff. The exploration was quite successful, and at the last meeting, October 26, of the Mineralogical Society at St. Petersburg, Prof. Mushketoff read a paper on his explorations. The lower extremity of the glacier is at the height of 9000 feet. The Galtcha people, who inhabit the upper valley of the Zarafshan, have never ascended the glacier; they say that on the summit of it there are two great pillars of stone, between which the traveller must go, and that the pillars would certainly crush together if any one ventured into the icy solitude. On August 25 the party began the ascent of the glacier on a very steep slope covered with blocks and moraines. A tunnel, no less than 3500 feet long, runs under the glacier, being the bed of the Macha River. After two days' travel the party had done seven miles on the glacier. The temperature during the day was as high as 40° Cels., and during the night as low as — 8°; some Galtchas who accompanied the party fell ill with fever. On the fourth day the party reached the first watershed, or rather the first iceshed; the whole length of the glacier to this point was sixteen miles, the width being one mile; six other glaciers, each of which is greater than the greatest Alpine glaciers, fed the principal one. At the head of it there is a wide cirque opening to the east; several peaks around it reach 20,000 feet. The descent on the other slope of the mountain ridge was far more steep and difficult than the ascent; the crevasses are very numerpus and the glacier has several great “ice-falls,” the inclination of which is no less than 50 degrees; the party was compelled to make use of small anchors and to cut steps in the ice. Two men were unwell and quite unable to go further when the party reached the foot of the eastern slope, after a very difficult journey.
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Geographical Notes . Nature 23, 44–45 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/023044a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/023044a0