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Process of Neplese mountain Formation.

Our continents are carried by a series of tectonic plates located in the earth’s lithosphere. These plates collide with and separate from each other at different rates determined by a process known as convection. Directly below the lithosphere is the inner mantle known as the asthenosphere. Convection currents are generated in the earth’s inner mantle as molten rock forms from the radioactive decay of elements. As hot gas and liquid is produced it moves upward, displacing the cooler and denser gas and liquid. As this convection process happens, those circulations push the lithosphere’s plates (and the seven continents that sit on top of them), slowly shifting the globe’s landscape over time. The direction and rate of movement is totally dependent on what kinds of convection currents are at work below.The Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, its formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. 

About 60 million years ago, during the Upper Cretaceous period, the north-moving Indo-Australian plate (which has subsequently split into the Indian Plate and the Australian plate) was moving at about 15 cm per year. About 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean (which some scientists regard as a classic geosyncline - or less elegantly - a big catch bucket), the existence of which has been determined by huge thickness of sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor, and the volcanoes that fringed its edges.60 million years ago, India was approximately 6400 km (3968 miles) south of the Eurasian plate. Separating the two was the Tethys Sea. The Indo-Australian tectonic plate – containing the continent of Australia, the Indian subcontinent, and surrounding ocean – was pushed northward by the convection currents generated in the inner mantle. For millions of years, India made its way across the sea toward the Eurasian plate. As India approached Asia, around 40 million years ago, the Tethys Sea began to shrink and its seabed slowly pushed upwards. The Tethys Sea disappeared completely around 20 million years ago and sediments rising from its seabed formed a mountain range. When India and Tibet collided, instead of descending with the plate, the relatively light sedimentary and metamorphic rock that makes up the subcontinent of India pushed against Tibet, forcing it upwards, and created a massive mountain fold. The Himalayas.

Both of these two plates are composed of low density continental crust; they were thrust faulted (pushed upwards) and folded into mountain ranges rather than subducting (pushed downward (if they were higher density oceanic crust)) into the mantle along an oceanic trench. The summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone from the ancient ocean Tethys. Today, the Indian plate continues to be driven horizontally at the Tibetan Plateau, which forces the plateau to continue to move upwards. The Indian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm of the India-Asia convergence distance is absorbed by the thrust faults along the Himalayan southern front. This absorption pushes the Himalayas up about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this entire region seismically active, leading to earthquakes (some major) from time to time.

The mountain range grew very rapidly in comparison to most mountain ranges, and it’s actually still growing today. Mount Everest and its fellows actually grow by approximately a net of about a centimeter or so every year. And it’s also important to note that the fault line that this created between the asian and indian plate lies just below Nepal where the energy trapped due to the supermassive collision of continents and sliding off the crust from time to time comes roaring up as a massive earthquake in this general fault line area, in case of Nepal.

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Process of Neplese mountain Formation.

Our continents are carried by a series of tectonic plates located in the earth’s lithosphere. These plates collide with and separate from each other at different rates determined by a process known as convection. Directly below the lithosphere is the inner mantle known as the asthenosphere. Convection currents are generated in the earth’s inner mantle as molten rock forms from the radioactive decay of elements. As hot gas and liquid is produced it moves upward, displacing the cooler and denser gas and liquid. As this convection process happens, those circulations push the lithosphere’s plates (and the seven continents that sit on top of them), slowly shifting the globe’s landscape over time. The direction and rate of movement is totally dependent on what kinds of convection currents are at work below.The Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, its formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. 

About 60 million years ago, during the Upper Cretaceous period, the north-moving Indo-Australian plate (which has subsequently split into the Indian Plate and the Australian plate) was moving at about 15 cm per year. About 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean (which some scientists regard as a classic geosyncline - or less elegantly - a big catch bucket), the existence of which has been determined by huge thickness of sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor, and the volcanoes that fringed its edges.60 million years ago, India was approximately 6400 km (3968 miles) south of the Eurasian plate. Separating the two was the Tethys Sea. The Indo-Australian tectonic plate – containing the continent of Australia, the Indian subcontinent, and surrounding ocean – was pushed northward by the convection currents generated in the inner mantle. For millions of years, India made its way across the sea toward the Eurasian plate. As India approached Asia, around 40 million years ago, the Tethys Sea began to shrink and its seabed slowly pushed upwards. The Tethys Sea disappeared completely around 20 million years ago and sediments rising from its seabed formed a mountain range. When India and Tibet collided, instead of descending with the plate, the relatively light sedimentary and metamorphic rock that makes up the subcontinent of India pushed against Tibet, forcing it upwards, and created a massive mountain fold. The Himalayas.

Both of these two plates are composed of low density continental crust; they were thrust faulted (pushed upwards) and folded into mountain ranges rather than subducting (pushed downward (if they were higher density oceanic crust)) into the mantle along an oceanic trench. The summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone from the ancient ocean Tethys. Today, the Indian plate continues to be driven horizontally at the Tibetan Plateau, which forces the plateau to continue to move upwards. The Indian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm of the India-Asia convergence distance is absorbed by the thrust faults along the Himalayan southern front. This absorption pushes the Himalayas up about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this entire region seismically active, leading to earthquakes (some major) from time to time.

The mountain range grew very rapidly in comparison to most mountain ranges, and it’s actually still growing today. Mount Everest and its fellows actually grow by approximately a net of about a centimeter or so every year. And it’s also important to note that the fault line that this created between the asian and indian plate lies just below Nepal where the energy trapped due to the supermassive collision of continents and sliding off the crust from time to time comes roaring up as a massive earthquake in this general fault line area, in case of Nepal.

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