Himalyan Mountains
'Himalayas' Sanskrit For Abode Of Snow.A Mountain System Of South Central Asia extending About 2414 km (1500 mi).They Include Mount Everest & Nine of The World' Ten Highest Peaks.
Himalaya Is A Mountain Range In Asia Separating The Indian Subcontinent From The Tibetan Platau.
This Is The Highest Peaks.Highest Mountain System On The Earth The Name Himalaya Means The House Of Snow.Home To The World's Highest Peaks Like Mount Everest And K2.Some Of The World's Major Rivers.Rise In The Himalayas Like Ganges And Mekong.The Flora And Fauna Of The Himalayas Vary With Climate Of Himalaya, Rainfall,Altitude and Soils.The Climate Ranges From Tropical At The Base Of The Mountains To Permanent Ice And Snow At The Highest Elevations.It Consists Of Several Parallel Mountain Range.
Formation Of Himalaya
The Himalayas Are A prime Example Of Tectonic Plate Motion Can Manipulate The Earth In Extraordinary Ways. These Colliding Plates Resulted In The Formation Of The Highest Mountain Range On The Planet.
The Himalayas Are Known To Be Youngfold Mountains.Young,Because These Have Been Formed Relatively Recently In The Earth's History, Compared To Older Mountain Ranges Like The Aravallis And The Appalachian In The USA.They are Know As Fold Mountains Because The Mountains Extend For 2500 km In The Length In A Series Of Parallel Ridges Or Folds.
Formation of Himalayas
The Accepted Theory About The Formation Of The Himalayas Started To Take Shape In The Year 1912 When German Meteorologist Alfred Wegener Developed His Theory Of Continental Drift.According To Wegener,The Earth Was Composed Of Several Giant Plates Called Tectonic Plates.On These Plates Lie The Continents And The Oceans Of The Earth.The Continent Were Said To Have Formed A Single Mass At One Point In Time.From This Single Mass,Today's Continent Have'Drifted' Apart From Each Other Over A Period Of Millions Of Years. We Pick UP The Story About 250 Millions Years Ago.During This Time All The Earth's Land Was A Single Super Continent Called Pangea,Which Was Surrounded By A Large Ocean.
Around 200 Millions Years Ago(Also Known As The Middle Permian Period),An Extensive Sea Stretched Along The Latitudinal Area Presently Occupied By The Himalayas.This Sea Was Named The 'Tethys'.Around This Period The Super Continent Pangea Began To Gradually Split Into Different Directions.
The Continent 180 million Years Ago
As A Result,Rivers From both The Northern Eurasian Land Mass Called Angara And The Southern Indian Land Mass(Called Gondwana) Starting Depositing Large Amounts Of Sediments Into The Shallow Sea That Was The Tethys.There Were Marine Animals Called Ammonities Living In The Sea At The Time.The Two Land Masses,The Eurasian And The Indian Sub Continent,Moved Closer And Closer Indian Plate Was Moving North About At The Rate Of About 15 cm Per Year(6 inches Per Year)
The Initial Mountain Building Process Started About Seventy Millions Years Ago When The Two Land Masses(Or Plates) Began To Collide With Each Other.
As A Result,The Already Shallow Seabed Rapidly Folded Folded And Was Raised Into Longitudinal Ridges Valleys.Soon Afterwards About 65 Millions Years Ago(Upper Eocene Period) Came The Second Phase Of Mountain Building.The Bed Of The Tethys Started Rising Again.The Sea Retreated ,And The Sea Bed Was Elevated Into High Mountain Ranges.
The Continent 65 Million Years Ago.
Later About 25 Millions Years Ago(Middle Miocene Period) Came Another Mountain Building Period Which Led to The Formation Of The Low Shivalik Ranges.After This Periodic Mountain Building Phases Occurred As The Indian Plate Pushed Against The Eurasian Plates Led To The Himalayan Ranges Rising Further. The Last Major Phase Occurred 600,000 Years Ago.
Although The Phase Of Major Upheaval Of The Himalayas Has Passed,The Himalayas Are Still Rising Albeit At A much Slower Rate.The Indian Plate Is Continuously Moving North At The Rate Of About 2cms Every Year.
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The Continent Today
Because Of This Reason The Himalayas Are Rising At The Of About 5 Millimeter Per Year.This Means That The Himalayas Are Still Geologically Active And Structurally Unstable.
For this Reason Earthquakes Are A frequent Occurrence In The Entire Himalayas.
It Has To Be Understand That It Is Impossible To Detect The Movement Of plates And Uplifting Of The Himalayas By Casual Observations.However, A Modern Technology Called Global Positioning System (GPS) Has Made It Possible To Measure Even Such Slow Movements Of The Plates.
