Week 5 - Himalaya's

This week’s field trip is to the Himalaya mountain range. The mountain range is the result of continental collision between the Indian and Eurasian continental plates. Around 225 million years ago India was an Island off the coast of Australia. Then about 200 million years ago it started its northward drift towards Asia. This drift slowed down drastically around 50 million years ago when the Indian continental plate collided with the Eurasian continental plate. When they collided, the Eurasian plate buckled over the Indian plate. Then with the folding and faulting of the continental crust caused a compression and pushed up what is now the Himalayas.

                                            One thing to note with this picture is that the estimated time is off.

The Himalaya mountain range is still rising about 1cm a year. However, due to the extreme weather the erosion to the mountain range is roughly the same rate as it is rising. Another interesting thing to note is that due to the density of both the plates when they collided neither continental plate could be subducted. This caused the crust in this area to be ticker than normal. It is estimated that the crust is almost twice as thick than the average crust. This caused the area to exabit no volcanic activity. The magma moving towards the surface would cool down and solidify before it reaches the top. The area still experiences earthquakes due to the Indian continental plate is still moving north pushing the Eurasian continental plate.

source:

https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/Chap3-Plate-Margins/Convergent/Continental-Collision