| Namtso / Namco | |
|---|---|
 View of the lake and the holy rock near theTashi Dor monastery (2005) | |
  Namtso / Namco | |
 Relief map. Lhasa is the area marked in red at the bottom. | |
| Location | Damxung/Baingoin,Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Coordinates | 30°42′N90°33′E / 30.700°N 90.550°E /30.700; 90.550 |
| Type | salt lake |
| Primary inflows | snow cover and spring of Tanggula Mountains |
| Primary outflows | None (endorheic)[1] |
| Basin countries | People's Republic of China |
| Max. length | 70 km (43 mi) |
| Max. width | 30 km (19 mi) |
| Surface area | 1,920 km2 (740 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 33 m (108 ft) |
| Max. depth | 125 m (410 ft)[2] |
| Water volume | 768 billion cubic metres (623×10 |
| Surface elevation | 4,718 m (15,479 ft) |
| Islands | 5 |
| Namtso | |||||||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tibetan | གནམ་མཚོ་ | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 納木錯 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 纳木错 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Namtso orLake Nam (officially:Namco;Mongolian:Tenger nuur;Chinese:纳木错;pinyin:Nàmù Cuò;Tibetan:གནམ་མཚོ་,ZYPY:Nam Co; “Heavenly Lake” in European literature:Tengri Nor,30°42′N90°33′E / 30.700°N 90.550°E /30.700; 90.550) is a mountain lake on the border betweenDamxung County ofLhasa prefecture-level city andBaingoin County ofNagqu Prefecture in theTibet Autonomous Region ofChina, approximately 112 kilometres (70 mi) NNW ofLhasa.
Namtso (Namco) is a lake that first formed during thePaleogene age, as a result of Himalayan tectonic plate movements. The lake lies at an elevation of 4,718 m (15,479 ft), and has a surface area of 1,900 km2 (730 sq mi).[3] Thissalt lake is the largestlake in theTibet Autonomous Region. However, it is not the largest lake on theQinghai-Tibet Plateau. That title belongs toQinghai Lake (more than twice the size of Namtso); which lies more than 1,000 km (620 mi) to the north-east inQinghai.
Namtso has five uninhabited islands of reasonable size, in addition to one or two rocky outcrops. The islands have been used for spiritual retreat by pilgrims who walk over the lake's frozen surface at the end of winter, carrying their food with them. They spend the summer there, unable to return to shore again until the water freezes the following winter. This practice is no longer permitted by Chinese authorities.[citation needed]
The largest of the islands is in the northwest corner of the lake, and is about 2,100 m (6,900 ft) long and 800 m (2,600 ft) wide, rising to just over 100 m (330 ft) in the middle. At its closest point it is about 3.1 km (1.9 mi) from the shore.[citation needed]
The weather at Namtso is subject to abrupt, sudden change and snowstorms are very common across the Nyainqêntanglha range.[4]
Namtso has analpine climate (KöppenETH) characterised by frigid, extremely dry winters and cool, rainy summers.[citation needed]
| Climate data for Namtso (Namco) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −3.0 (26.6) | −1.4 (29.5) | 1.7 (35.1) | 5.6 (42.1) | 10.0 (50.0) | 14.0 (57.2) | 14.4 (57.9) | 13.4 (56.1) | 11.7 (53.1) | 6.5 (43.7) | 1.4 (34.5) | −1.7 (28.9) | 6.1 (42.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −11.8 (10.8) | −9.6 (14.7) | −6.1 (21.0) | −1.7 (28.9) | 2.9 (37.2) | 7.3 (45.1) | 8.4 (47.1) | 7.7 (45.9) | 5.6 (42.1) | −0.3 (31.5) | −6.8 (19.8) | −10.5 (13.1) | −1.2 (29.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −20.6 (−5.1) | −17.8 (0.0) | −13.8 (7.2) | −9.0 (15.8) | −4.2 (24.4) | 0.7 (33.3) | 2.5 (36.5) | 2.1 (35.8) | −0.4 (31.3) | −7.1 (19.2) | −14.9 (5.2) | −19.3 (−2.7) | −8.5 (16.7) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 4 (0.2) | 14 (0.6) | 51 (2.0) | 87 (3.4) | 87 (3.4) | 48 (1.9) | 10 (0.4) | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | 307 (12) |
| Source:"NAMTSO QU Climate (China)".Climate-Data.org. | |||||||||||||
Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful places in theNyainqêntanglha mountain range. Its cavehermitages have for centuries been the destination of Tibetanpilgrims. A surfaced road acrossLaken Pass at 5186 m was completed to the lake in 2005, enabling easy access fromLhasa and the development of tourism at the lake. Settlements in the area includeDobjoi,Donggar andCha'gyungoinba. TheTashi Dor monastery is located at the southeastern corner of the lake.
Around the area's natural elements, historical and anthropological background, a 2010 romantic dramaChinese:香格里拉Shangri-La, starring China's popular actorHu Ge, was broadcast at CCTV1 and received positive reviews.[5] Some scenes in the 2002 Hong Kong filmThe Touch were filmed at the lake. Namtso Lake was featured in Episode 4,The Roof of the World, of BBC TV series:Himalaya with Michael Palin.
|
Asteroid248388 Namtso, discovered by Italian astronomerVincenzo Casulli in 2005, was named after the lake.[6] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 5 October 2017 (M.P.C. 106504).[7]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
| Five Great Lakes |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Notablefreshwater lakes |
| |
| Notable salt lakes | ||
| National Parks | ||
| Protectedwetlands | ||
| Nature Reserves | ||
| Major urban lakes | ||
| Reservoirs | ||
| County-level divisions |
|  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settlements | ||||||||
| Geography |
| |||||||
| Culture |
| |||||||
| Science | ||||||||
| Economy | ||||||||
| Transportation | ||||||||
