“Bailey–Morshead exploration of Tsangpo Gorge”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Bailey–Morshead exploration of the Tsangpo Gorge was an unauthorised expedition by Frederick Bailey and Henry Morshead in 1913 which for the first time established the definite route by which the Tsangpo River reaches the sea from north of Himalaya, through the Tsangpo Gorge.

Background

North of Himalaya, the Yarlung Tsangpo River flows east through the Tibetan Plateau and then turns south into a series of massive gorges in Himalayan mountains. Until the 1880s it was unknown by which route it eventually reached the sea.^[1]

It could have been any of the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy or Brahmaputra rivers all of which have headwaters this region.{{refn|group=note|It is thought that, before the uplift of the Himalayas, the Tsangpo flowed into the Red River which flows to Gulf of Tonkin, near Hanoi. During the Himalayan orogeny the Brahmaputra captured the Red River's headwaters.^[1]}} Kinthup, a Lepcha man from Sikkim employed as a pundit, had provided some evidence that the Tsangpo flowed into the Dihang (which is a tributary of the Brahmaputra) but he was not widely believed.^[2]{{sfnp|Morshead|1982}} By 1911 the connection was widely accepted.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=22}} Another mystery remained: the river dropped from {{convert|9000|ft}} to {{convert|1000|ft}} in a distance of perhaps {{convert|100|mi}} which is extremely steep for a river of this size.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=22}} It seemed there must be a massive waterfall and, indeed, Kinthup had reported one {{convert|150|ft}} high.^[2]

Abor Expedition

In 1911–12 as part of the Abor Expedition, the Survey of India conducted widespread surveying of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|pp=15–22}} Morshead was in a team surveying the Dibang River while Frederick Bailey was surveying the Dihang.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=22}}^[3] Oakes and Field of the Dihang team were first to measure the height of the {{convert|25445|ft|adj=on}} Namcha Barwa and, from Dibang, Morshead confirmed the height – the separate measurements were able to provide a very accurate location.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=31}}

1913 expedition

In 1913 Bailey, an intelligence officer with the Indian Army, invited Morshead to be the surveyor in an expedition to explore the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon (Tsangpo Gorge), now known to be the world's deepest gorge.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|loc=22,32–33}}{{refn|group=note|{{convert|16650|ft}} deep. The Colorado River's Grand Canyon is {{convert|6998|ft}}.^[2]}}

Bailey and Morshead explored from the south with Morshead surveying the entire route and calculating the results as they went so as not to delay progress. By ascending the Dibang river and crossing the Yonggyap Pass ({{coord|29|13|00|N|95|35|00|E}}^[4]) and the Himalayan watershed into Tibet, they reached the Dihang and started up the Gorge.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|pp=32–36}}

When they were at Lagung, just east of Namcha Barwa, they were arrested by the Nyerpa of Pome who took them to Showa on the Po Tsangpo river. After they had been imprisoned for several days they were released. By following this river downstream to the west and then north they reached the Rong Chu valley where Bailey discovered a tall blue poppy – now known as Meconopsis baileyi – at a forest edge. They headed south to reach the Dihang river again, this time upstream of the Gorge and just south of Gyala Peri. Hence they penetrated the massive sweep of the Tsangpo Gorge, north east of Namcha Barwa. They were able to go downstream as far as Pemakoi-chen where they found the immense Tsangpo Gorge impassible. They were only about {{convert|45|mi}} upstream of Lagung but they had to turn to the north to follow the Tsangpo upstream to Tsetang where they left the river and headed south through eastern Bhutan to Trashigang, eventually to arrive at Rangiya back in India.^[5]{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|pp=36–49}} The expedition covered {{convert|1680|mi}} on foot and lasted from 16 May to 14 November 1913.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|p=210}}{{sfnp|Bailey|1914|pp=84–89}}

Discoveries and outcome

In doing this they proved that the Dibang tributary of the Brahmaputra flows around rather than through the Himalayan mountains and does not connect with the Tsangpo.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|p=209}} They also proved conclusively that the Tsangpo–Dihang–Brahmaputra was a single river and for the first time established its accurate course along what became known as the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=49}} The highest waterfall they found was {{convert|30|ft}} and they considered there was unlikely to be a higher fall – this came as a disappointment even to the professionals.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=40}}{{refn|group=note|It later transpired there had been a mistranslation of Kinthup's report – the 150 feet related to a waterfall in a side stream.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=47}} A 1924 expedition found a 70-foot fall two miles further downstream and in 1998 a 108-foot fall was discovered.^[2]}} For his work Morshead was awarded the Macgregor Medal by the United Service Institution of India. At the time the expedition was regarded as a great feat of exploration and it drew international acclaim.^[5]

Notes

1. ^{{cite web|last1=Winn|first1=Pete|title=Geology and Geography of Tibet and Western China|url=http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/wchinageo/wchinageo.html|website=Exploring the Rivers of Western China|publisher=Earth Science Expeditions|accessdate=17 August 2014|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228171420/http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/wchinageo/wchinageo.html|archivedate=28 December 2014|df=dmy-all}}
2. ^¹²³⁴{{cite journal|last1=Bose|first1=SK|title=Tsangpo, The River of Mystery|journal=Journal of the United Service Institution of India|date=2010|volume=CXL|issue=581|url=http://www.usiofindia.org/Article/?pub=Journal&pubno=581&ano=765|accessdate=12 August 2014|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814020117/http://www.usiofindia.org/Article/?pub=Journal&pubno=581&ano=765|archivedate=14 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}
3. ^The Dibang and Dihang rivers are different tributaries of the Brahmaputra. Because it is now known the Tsangpo flows into the Dihang, the latter is now often regarded as a different name for the Brahmaputra in this region.
4. ^{{cite web|title=Yonggyap Pass: India|url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-2935683&fid=2717&c=india|website=Geographical Names|publisher=geographic.org|accessdate=12 August 2014|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813223802/http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-2935683&fid=2717&c=india|archivedate=13 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}
5. ^¹{{cite journal|last1=Mason|first1=Kenneth|title={{sic|In Memo|rium|hide=y|expected=In Memoriam}}: Henry Treise Morshead|journal=Himalayan Journal|date=1932|volume=4|url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/04/17/in-memorium/|accessdate=12 August 2014|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814003240/https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/04/17/in-memorium/|archivedate=14 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}

Background

Abor Expedition

1913 expedition

Discoveries and outcome

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited