I’m back trend chums.
I’ve made my way north
to the b-e-a-utiful Himalayas. I have found so many cozy clothes here I can’t
wait to show you all. I also couldn’t help but notice I’ve stumbled across my 4th
type of plate boundary this trip! Did someone say collision? What is collision Ms. Auttenberg? Well random citizen, look no further. I
will teach you my ways of tectonic plates.
Let’s take it back,
about 220 million years back, to when India was an aimless floating island in
the southern hemisphere of earth. Soon it began to move north, towards Asia. When
India rammed into Asia about 50 million years ago, its advance slowed. The
collision and decrease in the rate of plate movement mark the beginning of the
Himalayan uplift (28°37'27.44"N
84°39'51.50"E). The Himalayan uplift is the reaction of two huge masses of
continental lithosphere meeting head-on, neither one can sink because both
plates are too buoyant. It is when this happens that the highest mountains in
the world grow. At these boundaries rock is crumpled and raised. Huge slices
of rock, numerous kilometers wide are pushed on top of one another, forming a
towering mountain range. After the collision, the slow continuous convergence
of these two plates over millions of years pushed up the Himalayas and the
Tibetan Plateau to their present heights. Most of this growth occurred during
the past 10 million years. The Himalayas, soaring as high as 8,854 m above sea
level, form the highest mountains in the world.
Diagrams:
This is the most simple
of all boundaries in my opinion and also not as much major activity occurs at
them. Within this zone, shallow earthquakes are connected with high mountain
ranges where powerful compression is taking place. Intermediate- and deep-focus
earthquakes also occur and are known in the Himalayas. The last major
earthquake was in 1934 at 27.55 N, 87.09 E at an 8 magnitude level. This is because the
plates are still moving towards each other at about 2 cm per year which could
soon cause a mega quake.
But enough of that, here are my wonderful discoveries from the mountain villages!
XOXO Babar Dagmar Auttenberg XIII
No comments:
Post a Comment