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Formation of the Himalayas HTML5

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Summary

The Himalayan mountain chain is an example of a continental collision. 40 million years ago, the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate. The enormous pressure forces resulting from this shock caused a gigantic mountain uplift. There are 3000 km of the Himalayas with Mount Everest being the highest peak (8848m). Further north, behind the front line, the Eurasian plate is raised over 2.5 million km2 (6 times the size of California - 10 times that of UK) forming the Tibetan Plateau with an average altitude of over 4000m.

This phenomena is one of a number of examples of the theory of the continental drift and plate tectonics model.

Learning goals

  • To explain the formation of mountains as a result of the theory of plate tectonics.
  • To illustrate the formation of a mountain chain. The Himalayas in this case.
  • To observe the effects of a lithospheric convergence.

Learn more

The movement of the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate is caused by continental drift.

For a 100 million years, India was an island continent located several thousand kilometers from the…

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