Today (October 4), my country’s Himalayan “8·26” extreme geological disaster emergency cross-border scientific expedition team set off from Chengdu to Nepal to conduct a joint cryospheric and lithospheric catastrophic emergency emergency scientific expedition. More than 50 scientific researchers from more than ten universities and research institutes participated in this scientific examination.
On August 26 this year, a glacier collapsed suddenly in the northern border area of Nepal, triggering a cross-border mudslide and causing heavy casualties. The source area of the disaster is located in Nepal, and the disaster-causing process evolved across borders. The Gyirong Port in Tibet, my country, is the main disaster-bearing area. Since it is difficult to fully restore the full picture of the disaster through unilateral investigation, on-site tracing in Nepal has become a key step in restoring the entire chain of the disaster.
Wang Chengshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: We have carried out scientific surveys of the entire basin from the overseas source area to the disaster-stricken area at the Jilong Port in China, and then to the overseas downstream area. Going with questions and returning with evidence will provide an important foundation for disaster assessment and process reconstruction, provide scientific support for the reconstruction of the Jilong Port, and also provide scientific support for the cryosphere, lithosphere, and catastrophe prevention and control in the Himalayas.
Hou Mingcai, Vice President of Chengdu University of Technology: It is difficult for one country alone to fully study and judge the Himalayan freezing disaster. The China-Nepal joint scientific expedition is a very valuable practice. Specifically, the following things are solved: first, to complete the transformation process from the disaster source area to the channel; second, to calculate the sediment thickness distribution in the entire basin; third, to provide first-hand data for the reconstruction of the Jilong Port and downstream prevention.
This scientific expedition will comprehensively use technical means such as drone aerial survey, helicopter survey, and field geological catalog sampling to focus on clarifying the entire process of the step-by-step chain transformation of ice and rock avalanches into debris flows, debris flows, debris torrents, and torrents. Quantifying the erosion, transportation and accumulation patterns along the route provides a solid scientific basis for the analysis and reconstruction of the entire disaster chain and the restoration and reconstruction of the Jilong Port.
