Convergent Plates
The Himalayan Mountain Range covers approximately 1,500 miles and pass through the nations of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, and Nepal. The range is composed of three different parallel ranges, The Greater Himalayas, The Lesser Himalayas, and the Outer Himalayas. The Himalayas are also home to Mount Everest, which at 29,029 ft is not only the mountain range's highest peak, it is also the highest peak in the entire world.
The Himalayas are the result of tectonic plate motions that millions of years ago collided India into Tibet. 225 million years ago India was an island that was next to the Australian coast and separated from Asia by the Tethys ocean. When Pangea began to break apart India drifted towards Asia until about 40 to 50 million of years ago it collided into what is called a Continental - Continental Convergence.
When the collision happened part of the Indian landmass began to go beneath the Asian landmass which in result ended up moving the Asian landmass vertically which resulted in the rise of the Himalayan Mountain Range. It is thought that India's coastline was denser and more firm than Asia's that is why Asia's soil was pushed up rather than the Indian landmass.
The Himalayan Mountain Range was a result of compressive stress. This type of stress causes rocks to push or squeeze against one another. When compression stress happens it targets the center of the rock and can cause either horizontal or in the case of the Himalayas vertical orientation. The force of compression stress pushed the edges of each continent plate to rise. The Himalayas are the result of high impact compression of when the two different plates collided creating fold mountains.
No comments:
Post a Comment