The Himalayan is much older than it seems

The rich fossils at the "world roof" recounted that this mountain formed from a long time ago, much earlier than our long-standing viewpoint, and lay along a stormy coastline. The island has long disappeared.

The researchers found that Parahio Valley rock in India's Spiti region contained traces of an ancient river delta 500 million years ago, filled with shallow coastal fossils and debris. falls from a very young mountain range.

This discovery is a powerful blow to the long-held view that the first accumulation of the Himalayas began only 50 million years ago.

" When you look at the Himalayas, you often get the impression that everything happened during the Cenozoic period (about 50 million years ago), but in fact the early form of this mountain range took place in the Cambrian period (542-488 million years ago). ) or earlier, "said Paul Myrow, geologist from Coloorado University in Colorado Springs.

Myrow and colleagues climbed up and down the steep slopes of the Parahio Valley, collecting the first "slice" of the area's first stratum. Each slice consists of many layers of rock like a multilayer sandwich that geologists study to recreate the region's history.

The 3D image was taken by the shuttle Endeavor in 2000. The Himalayas are considered much older than the recently calculated age.( Photo: AP )

They learned that slices started at 4,200 meters altitude to 4,500 meters above sea level. What they found was a "treasure" of extinct three-lobed beetles, helping to age the stone patterns. The three lobsters are among the earliest primitive creatures, with relatives of crabs and centipedes and spiders.

The researchers also found many traces of a shallow coastline, once located on the north coast of India before rushing into the Eurasian Plate, close to the Tethys Sea and forming the Himalayas today.

T. An