The mystery of the rise of the Himalayas

According to a new hypothesis, the speed of collisions between tectonic plates on the earth is slowing, creating a great repulsive force affecting the altitudes of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau.

>>>Unable to conquer Everest due to . running out of snow?

While Earth's tectonic plates slide along the surface of the earth, they carry the continents along. Sometimes after millions of years, these continents eventually collide with each other and in the process, the collision gradually slows. The new study suggests that the development may not only originate from the earth's crust, but may also depend on the powers hidden deep in the earth.

Understanding the forces that control tectonic plates can help open an understanding of the factors that cause earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as the origin and collapse of mountains, trenches. deep in the ocean and continent. Marin Clark (University of Michigan) has focused on observing the upcoming collision between India and the Eurasian continent in order to learn more about these forces.'The clash between India and the Eurasian continent is extremely terrible, it is creating the largest land formation in the last 500 million years or more: it is possible to observe the Himalayas and Tibet plateau. " Said Clark.

Himalayan mountains are gradually increasing in height as the Indian tectonic plate moves north

Clark examined geological data from previous studies to analyze how Indian tectonic plates are moving north at 15cm / year in the past 67 million years. She also looked at the change in elevation of the land in the area where the collision occurred.'The Himalayas and Tibetan plateau are rising up while the Indian tectonic plate moves north, like a box extending under the twisting' , OurAmazingPlanet page quoted the expert. Mrs. Clark has determined the current mountain speed thanks to measurements from the global positioning system, and the past speed is based on comparing the size of the Tibetan plateau to the speed of the tectonic plate above. Move north.

Previous research suggests that the repulsive force inside the Earth's crust, including the force that makes the Himalayas higher and the thickening of the crust below the Tibetan plateau, has slowed the process of colliding between India and continental Asia - Europe. However, according to a study published in Science , Clark expert found that the speed of this process has been exponentially reduced since the two tectonic plates began to collide about 45 to 50 million years ago. On the contrary, the height of the mountain in the region seems to have remained unchanged. These new discoveries show that the collision process is slowed down by the constant antagonism that comes from a depth of 60km below Tibet, in an area called the lithosphere.

The process of convergence between two tectonic plates will gradually cease after 20 million years, according to Clark experts, putting an end to one of the longest periods of mountain formation in recent geological history. .