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Gangotri Glacier is located in Uttarkashi District
Uttarkashi District

Uttarkashi District, also known as Uttar Kashi District, is a district of Garhwal division of the Uttarakhand state in northern India.Uttarkashi District town lies high in the Himalaya range, and the district contains the source of both the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, which attract thousands of Hindu pilgrims....
, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. It was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th States and territories of India of the Republic of India ....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 in a region bordering China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. This glacier, source of the Ganga, is one of the largest in the Himalayas
Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow" ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau....
 with an estimated volume of over 27 cubic kilometers. The glacier is about 30 kilometres long (19 miles) and 2 to 4 km (1 to 2 mi) wide. Around the glacier are the peaks of the Gangotri Group
Gangotri Group

The Gangotri Group of mountains is a subdivision of the Garhwal Himalaya in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. It rings the Gangotri Glacier, and contains peaks that are notable either for their religious significance to Hindus, for their difficult climbing routes, or both....
, including several peaks notable for extremely challenging climbing routes, such as Shivling
Shivling (Garhwal Himalaya)

Shivling is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier. It lies in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, south of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh ....
, Thalay Sagar
Thalay Sagar

Thalay Sagar is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, on the main ridge that lies south of the Gangotri Glacier....
, Meru
Meru

Meru may refer to:In geography:* Meru, Kenya, a central town, associated with:** Meru Central District** Meru North District** Meru South District...
, and Bhagirathi III.






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Gangotri Glacier is located in Uttarkashi District
Uttarkashi District

Uttarkashi District, also known as Uttar Kashi District, is a district of Garhwal division of the Uttarakhand state in northern India.Uttarkashi District town lies high in the Himalaya range, and the district contains the source of both the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, which attract thousands of Hindu pilgrims....
, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. It was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th States and territories of India of the Republic of India ....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 in a region bordering China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. This glacier, source of the Ganga, is one of the largest in the Himalayas
Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow" ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau....
 with an estimated volume of over 27 cubic kilometers. The glacier is about 30 kilometres long (19 miles) and 2 to 4 km (1 to 2 mi) wide. Around the glacier are the peaks of the Gangotri Group
Gangotri Group

The Gangotri Group of mountains is a subdivision of the Garhwal Himalaya in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. It rings the Gangotri Glacier, and contains peaks that are notable either for their religious significance to Hindus, for their difficult climbing routes, or both....
, including several peaks notable for extremely challenging climbing routes, such as Shivling
Shivling (Garhwal Himalaya)

Shivling is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier. It lies in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, south of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh ....
, Thalay Sagar
Thalay Sagar

Thalay Sagar is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, on the main ridge that lies south of the Gangotri Glacier....
, Meru
Meru

Meru may refer to:In geography:* Meru, Kenya, a central town, associated with:** Meru Central District** Meru North District** Meru South District...
, and Bhagirathi III. It flows roughly northwest, originating in a cirque
Cirque

Cirque may be:* Cirque a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , a novel by Terry Carr...
 below Chaukhamba
Chaukhamba

Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Gangotri Group of the Garhwal Himalaya. Its main summit, Chaukhamba I, is the highest peak in the group. It lies at the head of the Gangotri Glacier and forms the eastern anchor of the group....
, the highest peak of the group.

The terminus
Glacier terminus

A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless Glacier#Glacial motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating....
 of the Gangotri Glacier is said to resemble a cow's mouth, and the place is called Goumukh (gou, cow + mukh, face). Goumukh, which is about 18 km (11 miles) from the town of Gangotri
Gangotri

Gangotri is a town and a nagar panchayat in Uttarkashi District in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hinduism pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi River....
, is the precise source of the Bhagirathi river, an important tributary
Tributary

A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a Mainstem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body of water....
 of the Ganga
Ganges River

The 'Ganges' is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh....
. Goumukh is situated near the base of Shivling; in between lies the Tapovan
Tapovan

Tapovan comes from the two root words Tapasya - meaning specifically austerity, and more generally spiritual practice, and Vana, meaning forest, or wilderness....
 meadow.

The Gangotri glacier is a traditional Hindu pilgrimage
Pilgrimage

File:Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpgIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long quest or search of great moral significance....
 site. Devout Hindus consider bathing in the icy waters near Gangotri town to be a holy ritual, and many make the trek
Trek

The word trek has entered the English language as one of few words derived from Afrikaans language. It means a long, hard journey, and is derived from the Dutch language trekken ....
 to Goumukh and Tapovan
Tapovan

Tapovan comes from the two root words Tapasya - meaning specifically austerity, and more generally spiritual practice, and Vana, meaning forest, or wilderness....
.

In recent times, it has been pointed out that the retreat
Retreat of glaciers since 1850

The retreat of glaciers since 1850, worldwide and rapid, affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use, mountain recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt, and in the longer term, the level of the oceans....
 of the glacier has quickened significantly.

Geology

It is a valley-type glacier, situated in the Uttarkashi district of Garhwal Himalaya, Uttaranchal (Figure 1) and it flows to NW direction. This glacier is bound between 30°43'22"–30°55'49"?(lat.) and 79°4'41"–79°16'34"?(long.), extending in height from 4120 to 7000 m.a.s.l. This area is situated north of the Main Central Thrust (MCT) and is made up of bedrocks of granites, garnet mica schist, quartz biotite schist, kyanite schist, augen gneiss and banded augen gneiss. the glacier is composed of a variety of depositional features such as talus cones, snow-avalanche fans, snow-bridges, and dead ice mounds, and erosional features like pyramidal and conical peaks, serrated ridge crests, glacial troughs, smooth rock walls, crags and tails, waterfalls, rock basins, gullies and glacial lakes. All along the Gangotri glacier, several longitudinal and transverse crevasses are formed along which ice blocks have broken down. The ablation zone of the Gangotri glacier is covered by a thick pile of supraglacial moraines and is characterized by several ice sections, melting into pools of supraglacial lake
Supraglacial lake

A supraglacial lake is any pond of liquid water on the top of a glacier. Although these pools are , they may reach kilometers in diameter and be several meters deep....
s. Because of subsidence and the fast degenerating nature of the glacier, its centre is full of supraglacial lakes. In this part of higher Himalaya, glacial melt-water dominates the fluvial system.