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The Shyok River is a tributary of the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmi ...
that flows through northern
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu a ...
and enters
Gilgit–Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...
, spanning some . The Shyok River originates at the
Rimo Glacier __NOTOC__ The Rimo Muztagh is one of the most remote subranges of the Karakoram range. The southern part of Rimo Muztagh is in the Ladakh portion of far northwestern India, also claimed by Pakistan. The northern half, including the Rimo massif ...
, one of the tongues of
Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kara ...
. Its alignment is very unusual, originating from the Rimo glacier, it flows in a southeasterly direction and, joining the Pangong range, it takes a northwestern turn, flowing parallel to its previous path. Shyok Valley widens at the confluence with the Nubra River but suddenly turns into a narrow gorge near Yagulung (), continuing through Bogdang,
Turtuk Turtuk ཏུར་ཏུཀ་ is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is a small village sandwiched between Karakorum Range and Himalayas. and one of the north ...
and Tyakshi before crossing into
Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gil ...
. The valley again widens near its Saltoro River junction at Ghursay. The river joins the Indus at Keris, east of the town of
Skardu , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Gilgit Baltistan#Pakistan , pushpin_label_position ...
. The Nubra River, originating from the Siachen glacier, also behaves like the Shyok. Before Diskit, the southeasterly flowing river Nubra takes a northwest turn on meeting the river Shyok. The similarity in the courses of these two important rivers probably indicates a series of paleolithic
fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
s trending northwest-southeast in delimiting the upper courses of the rivers.


Name

The name ''Shyok'' (or ''Shayog'') is derived from Tibetan ཤག་མ (''shag'') 'gravel' + གཡོག་ (''gyog'') 'to spread' and therefore means 'gravel speader', referring to the large quantities of gravel that the river deposits when it floods. The name is sometimes incorrectly glossed as 'river of death'.


Valley

The Shyok Valley is the valley of the Shyok River. It is near the
Nubra Valley Nubra, also called Dumra, is a historical region of Ladakh, India that is currently administered as a subdivision and a tehsil in the Leh district. Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the Nubra and Shyok rivers. Its Tibetan name ...
.
Khardung La Khardung La () or Khardung Pass is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The pass is on the Ladakh Range, north of Leh, and connects the Indus river valley and the Shyok river valley. It also forms the ...
on the
Ladakh Range The Ladakh Range is a mountain range in central Ladakh in India with its northern tip extending into Baltistan in Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and Shyok river valleys, stretching to 230 miles (370 km). Leh, the capital city of Lada ...
lies north of
Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former ...
and is the gateway to the
Shyok The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some . The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
and Nubra valleys. The
Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kara ...
lies partway up the latter valley.


Tributaries

The Chang Chen Mo River is formed in the vicinity of Pamzal in Changchinmo plains of Ladakh and flows westward. It ends when it empties into the Shyok River. The Galwan River is in the southern part of
Aksai Chin Aksai Chin is a region administered by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. It is claimed by India to be a part of its Leh District, Ladakh Union Territory. It is a part of t ...
, Galwan originates in the area of Samzungling and flowing to the west joins the Shyok River. The Nubra River is a tributary of the Shyok River, which flows into the Indus River. It flows in the
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu a ...
region of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. The
Saltoro River Saltoro River is a tributary river of Shyok River in the Siachen Region. Its main source is Bilafond Glacier Bilafond Glacier ( ur, بلا فوند گلیشیر) is located in Siachen region across Karakoram Range in Pakistan. It is a main ...
begins in the skirts of the Saltoro Kangri peak ridge and flows to the southwest. Another branch starts from the western Siachen glaciers and flows to the west to join it at Dumsum village. North of the Ghursay Valley, it meets Mashburm Peak's
Hushe River The Hushe River is a tributary river to the Shyok River which itself is tributary to the Indus River. The main source of the Hushe River is the Gondogoro Glacier. Some streams also flow from other glaciers of the Hushe valley. The Hushe river jo ...
and empties into Shyok River just southwest.


Gallery

File:View of bridge over Shyok River, Khaplu.jpg, Shyok in Khaplu Valley File:Shiyok River.jpg, Kharfaq and Yugu File:Shoyok and Nubra Valley map.jpg, Road marker map


See also

* Saser Muztagh * Nubra River * Galwan River


References

*Sharad Singh Negi: ''Himalayan Rivers, Lakes, and Glaciers''. Indus Publishing 1991, *H. N. Kaul: ''Rediscovery of Ladakh''. Indus Publishing 1998, , p. 30-31
restricted online version (Google Books)


Footnotes


External links


''Shyok River''
at the
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

Shyok River
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"Shyok Valley Project - An Experiment In Suof Jammu and Kashmir"
Tributaries of the Indus River Rivers of India International rivers of Asia Karakoram Rivers of Ladakh Rivers of Gilgit-Baltistan