This Glacier Is Known As The "Crown Of The Himalayas"

By: NDTVNewsDesk

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

The Siachen Glacier is known as the "Crown of the Himalayas", recognised as India's largest glacier.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

It is also the second-longest non-polar glacier globally, and a strategically vital, extremely high-altitude battlefield.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

Its moniker reflects its immense size, importance, and the challenging, extreme conditions faced by soldiers stationed there.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

It sits high in the eastern Karakoram range, stretching close to 75 kilometres.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

The altitude ranges from about 5,400 metres to well over 7,000 metres, where oxygen thins out, temperatures remain brutally low.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

It covers roughly 2,000 sq km of ice and debris, making it larger than most Himalayan trekking regions combined.

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Temperatures in winter plunge to minus 50 degrees, while summer temperatures hover between minus 15 and minus 20 degrees.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

Wind speeds frequently cross 100 km/h, and oxygen availability drops to nearly 10% of what the body receives at sea level.

Image: X/@IndiaAesthetica

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