The Fedchenko Glacier () or the Vanch-Yakh Glacier () is a large glacier in the Yazgulem Range, Pamir Mountains, of north-central Gorno-Badakhshan province, Tajikistan. The glacier is long and narrow, currently extending for and covering over . It is the longest glacier in the world outside of the polar regions.In the Karakoram Mountains, the Siachen Glacier is 76 km long, the Biafo Glacier is 67 km long, and the Baltoro is 63 km long. The Bruggen or Pio XI Glacier in southern Chile is 66 km long. Kyrgyzstan's South Inylchek (Enylchek) Glacier is 60.5 km in length. Measurements are from recent imagery, generally with Russian 1:200,000 scale topographic mapping for reference as well as the 1990 Orographic Sketch Map: Karakoram: Sheets 1 and 2, Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich. The maximum thickness of the glacier is , and the volume of the glacier and its dozens of tributaries is estimated at —about a third of the volume of Lake Erie.
Path and location The glacier follows a generally northward path to the east of the Garmo Peak. The glacier begins at an elevation of and eventually melts and empties into the Balandkiik River near the border with Kyrgyzstan at an elevation of . Its waters eventually feed down the Muksu, Surkhob, Vakhsh, and Amu Darya rivers into the Aral Sea.
To the west is the Tajik National Academy of Sciences Range, Mount Garmo, Ismoil Somoni Peak, Peak Korzhenevskaya, the headwaters of the Vanj River, and Yazgulyam River. To the south is Independence Peak and to the east Gorbunov Peak (6,025 meters). To the north is Altyn Mazar.
Discovery The glacier was discovered in 1878 and was named after Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko, a Russian explorer (but not the discoverer of the glacier). It was not fully explored until 1928 by a German-Soviet expedition under . Between 1910 and 1913 the glacier expanded and moved forward by , blocking up the Balyandlik River the following year. It continued to recede between 1928 and 1960, stopping its inflows such as the Kosinenko, Ulugbeck, Alert and several others.
In 2023, Tajikistan officially renamed the glacier as part of a derussification program.
See also List of glaciers
Notes
References "Fedchenko Glacier". Encyclopædia Britannica online edition. Retrieved 8 December 2005. "The First National Communication of the Republic of Tajikistan under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Republic of Tajikistan Ministry for Nature Protection. Dushanbe: 2002. "Tajikistan 2002: Vital Maps and Graphics on Climate Change" . Tajikistan Met Service. Retrieved 18 August 2005. "Tajikistan - Topography and Drainage". U.S. Department of the Army. Published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Online version retrieved 8 December 2005.
External links Map of glaciation in the Pamir Mountains Google Maps satellite photo of Fedchenco Glacier (solid white line running approximately vertically in center of image) Current weather and 5-day forecast, from CNN