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About the Authors:
Blaz Stres
Affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of Ljubljana, Domzale, Slovenia
Woo Jun Sul
Affiliations Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America, Department of Systems Biotechnology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Korea
Bostjan Murovec
Affiliation: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
James M. Tiedje
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Introduction
Himalaya (from Sanskrit him = snow, alaya = abode) refers to the complex system of nearly parallel ranges of tertiary mountains, stretching over 3000 km, from Myanmar on its east and Afghanistan on its west. While the Himalayan system rises abruptly from the plains of India, it stretches to the north in series of folds to the High Plateau of Tibet, forming a complex series of several nearly parallel or converging and bifurcating ranges, intersected by high longitudinal valleys and plateaus. The width of the system is extremely variable as it spans from only 80 km to more than 300 km giving rise to a unique distribution of elevation (4–8.8 km), slope (30°–90°), temperature gradients and fluctuations (−25°C/+15°C), low partial pressure (at 6000 m only 46% of that at sea level), winds (40–160 km h−1) and UV irradiation (10 kJ m−2 day−1). Its altitude and close proximity to the highly energetic tropical environment [1]; [2] form a barrier to atmospheric transport, which produces much of the region’s aqueous and particle monsoon precipitation [3] and makes the Himalaya the largest continuous ice-covered area outside polar regions.
This region is characterized by strong winds from the SW in the (summer) monsoon season and from NW in the dry (winter) season, thunderstorms accompanied by heavy precipitation in the pre-monsoon season and at the onset of winter [4]. The mean annual precipitation as snow was 2500–3000 mm [5]; [6]. The sky is cloudy 10% and 90% of winter and summer monsoons, respectively [7]. The dust concentrations at 5000 m can range from 8–100 µg m−3 up to 800 µg m−3 and are highest in spring [8] providing an annual dust flux to the Himalayan range spanning from 770 to 1030 mg m−2 [9]. The dust plume over the Tibetan plateau to the north of the sampling area covers...