{"id":15458,"date":"2023-10-30T21:45:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T20:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/?p=15458"},"modified":"2023-10-30T21:45:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T20:45:12","slug":"where-did-the-yangtze-river-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/where-did-the-yangtze-river-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Did The Yangtze River Start"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The mighty Yangtze river is one of the world’s largest and most important waterways, connecting more than a sixth of the world’s population to the sea. Its journey begins in the highlands and alpine meadows of the Tibetan Plateau, flows east into the densely populated delta of the East China Sea, and has supported the lives of many people over the centuries. But where did it really come from?<\/p>\n

The source of the Yangtze river has moved over the centuries and the river’s headwaters have been a matter of fierce debate since the 18th century. Ancient texts such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas written during the 5th century BC referred to several rivers, including the Yangtze, which also coincided with certain modern rivers.<\/p>\n

In 1951, a Chinese survey team identified the Tuotuo River, a tributary of the Yangtze, as the source of the Yangtze. The team declared it to be situated at the edge of a glacial lake in the Tanggula Mountains of northern Tibet, at 5,042 metres above sea-level. This was confirmed by a 2013 joint expedition by teams from China, Canada and the United States. Surveying with GPS-equipped survey and robotic positioning systems, the teams followed the river all the way back to its source and established the original latitude and longitude to be near 33.28° North, 80.71° East.<\/p>\n

Two major scientific theories exist to explain the origin of the Yangtze river: the Paleogeo Theory and the Geomorphologic Theory. According to the Paleogeo Theory, the headwater of the Yangtze was formed by the shifting of the Indian plate beneath the Eurasia plate during the Himalayan uplift about 50 million years ago, gradually forming the present-day Yangtze valley. The Geomorphologic Theory suggests that the uplifting of the Tibetan Plateau has acted like a wall to hold back water and lead to the lake which serves as the source of the mighty river.<\/p>\n