Matei Ioan Hurjui S6ENb

Wednesday 1st of February 2023

The Himalayas- Homework

1.What is the highest Mountain of the Himalayas? Beyond the name of the summit, chose a picture of
it and describe as many geographical features as possible.
The highest mountain in the Himalayas Mountain range (and the world) is Mount Everest and its peak
is considered the highest point on Earth. It has a height of 8848 meters above sea level. The mountain
is characterised by its extreme altitude, severe weather conditions and challenging terrain (which is
covered with glaciers and snow), making it a real challenge to climb. It is surrounded by high peaks,
glaciers, deep valleys and ridges. It is located on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous
Region of China.

2. Where are the Himalayas? What is their size?

The Himalayas are located in Central Asia, and they separate the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan
plateau. They stretch for about 2500 km in Asia and they cover a total area of around 600,000 km2.
Their width from north to south varies between 200 and 400km.
4. Which countries does it cross?
Mount Everest lies on the border between Nepal and China. The Himalayas can be found in India,
Nepal, China, Pakistan, and Bhutan, however, territorial disputes between India Pakistan and China
should be taken into consideration.
5. What is the rock formation of the Everest?
Mount Everest is primarily composed of sedimentary rock, including shale and sandstone, that was
uplifted and metamorphosed into metamorphic rock, such as schist and gneiss, during the collision of
the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The layer that can be found at the summit is called
Qomolangma limestone and contains 400 million year old fossils, which indicates that the summit
used to be a seabed.
7. Where was the summit of Everest formed?
The summit of Everest was formed due to the collison of the Indian tectonic plate into the Eurasian
one. In the present day, the peal of the mountain is located on the border between China and India.
8. What is the geological evidence for this formation?
9. How did geologists prove the existence of Gondwana?
Geolgists proved the existence of the ancient supercontinent by analyzing geological evidence from
multiple continents. This evidence was primarily rock formations, fossil records and geological
structures. It was discovered that rocks and fossils from Africa, South America, Antarctica, India and
Australia are very similar, which suggests the fact that whey all used to be part of a greater landmass.
10. When did India collide with Asia?
India collided with asia about 40-50 million years ago. It is bleived that this collision is responsible
for the creation of the Himalayas.
11. How fast did it move? What is the consequence of this speed on the relief of the Himalayas?
it travelled 4000 miles in 30 million years which is very fast in geological terms. As a consequence of
the blazing fast speeds of the Indian subcontinent, the impact of the collision with Eurasia lead to the
creation of the very high altitude relief of the Himalayas.
12. How were the metamorphic rocks under the Everest limestone formed?
They were formed due to the immense heat and pressure generated by the aforementioned collion
between the Indian the Eurasian tectonic plates. The collision caused the sedimentary rock,( shale and
sandstone), that originally covered the area to be lifted upwards and subjected to intense heat and
pressure, leading to the formation of metamorphic rock such as schist and gneiss.
13. How do you explain the still ongoing creation of igneous rocks in the Himalayas?
There are zones under the crust of the earth known as subduction zones. Here, plates from what is
known as the lithosphere are forced beneath eachother. This results in magma from the mantle being
released which creates cracks in the planets crust, which cools to form igneous rock. The collision
between the Indian and Eurasian subcontinents means that the Himalayas are located in a
geologically active subduction zone. As a result the process which will still take millions of years will
mean that new igneous rocks will be created.
14. Which is more important: erosion or tectonics? Explain.
Erosion is the process by which natural landscapes and surfaces are worn away by factors such as
wind water, water, ice, rocks etc.. This results in changes in the land form and topography. Plate
tectonics is the theory that explains the movement and interaction of Earths lithospheric plates, which
leads o volcanic activities and earthquakes. There is an argument that could be made in favour of plate
tectonics due to the sheer scale of the impact created by such movements. The movement of the plates
shapes the number and size of the continents on earth at any given time. Also, it can lead to the
creation of entire landscapes such as the one we have seen in the video, in the from of the Himalayas
and the Tibetan Plateau .Erosion, while also a vital process happens at a smaller scale, more locally
and it happens independently of plate tectonics.