Chinese scientists went to Nepal to conduct joint scientific research and assess Himalayan cryogenic disasters
The Himalayan transboundary scientific expedition focuses on the causal chain behind the 8/26 glacier collapse and debris flow Drone aerial surveys and field sampling restore the entire disaster process, helping assess the damage
On October 4, China’s Himalayan "8·26" emergency crossborder scientific expedition team for an extreme geological disaster departed from Chengdu and headed to Nepal to conduct a joint scientific investigation into a megadisaster involving the cryosphere and lithosphere. More than 50 researchers from over a dozen universities and scientific research institutes participated in the effort, which aims to supplement the complete chain of data from the disaster source area to the affected area.
The report states that on August 26, a glacier collapse occurred in the northern border area of Nepal, triggering a crossborder debris flow and causing severe casualties. Since the disaster evolved from the source area within Nepal and affected Jilong Port in Tibet, China, a unilateral investigation would make it difficult to reconstruct the entire process, so the ChinaNepal joint scientific expedition is regarded as an important step in rebuilding the disaster process.
The expedition team will use drone aerial surveying, helicopter reconnaissance, field geological documentation, and sampling to重点 analyze the multistage chain conversion process from icerock avalanches to debris flows, mudflows, and flash floods, and assess the characteristics of erosion, transport, and deposition along the way, providing a scientific basis for disaster assessment, port reconstruction, and subsequent disaster prevention and mitigation.