Mount Everest, the tallest peak on Earth, is 15 to 50 meters taller than it once was due to uplift caused by a nearby eroding river valley, and continues to grow because of it, a new study shows.
And I found it the study Published last September 30 in the journal Nature Geoscience, the erosion caused by a river network about 75 kilometers from Mount Everest has carved out a large valley, and the loss of this land mass causes the mountain to rise by two millimeters annually.
According to the study, an eroding river valley pushed Mount Everest upward, pulling rocks and sediments away from the area. Researchers believe that over the past 89,000 years, the mountain’s height has increased by about 50 metres. The current height of Mount Everest is more than 8,849 metres.
Mountain of legends
“Mount Everest is a magnificent mountain with many myths and legends, and it continues to grow even now,” says study co-author Adam Smith, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London. “Our research shows that as the nearby river system is cut deeper “The erosion of the soil causes the mountain to rise higher.”
This huge difference in height can be explained in part by a lifting force resulting from pressure from beneath the Earth’s crust, according to Smith in statements to Al Jazeera Net. The researcher adds that the pressure began underground after the river sculpted a large amount of rock and soil, in a geological process called “post-glacial rebound.”
Postglacial rebound is a geological phenomenon that occurs when the Earth’s surface slowly rises after being compressed under the weight of heavy ice sheets during the last ice age. It’s like pressing a soft mattress and then letting go, and the mattress gradually returns to its original shape. In the same way, the ground pressed by the ice bounces back once the ice melts.
Digital models
The team used erosion data to create digital models that simulate the evolution of the Kosi River network merged with the Arun River to the east of Mount Everest. Over thousands of years, the Arun River carved a large gorge along its banks, sweeping away billions of tons of sediment and soil at the same time.
“There is an interesting river system in the Everest region. The Arun River flows from the east at a high altitude with a flat valley, and then suddenly turns to the south as the Kosi River, decreasing in elevation and becoming steeper. This unique landform, which indicates the state of Unstable, likely linked to the extreme height of Mount Everest,” Smith said in statements to Al Jazeera Net.
The team attributed the growth of Mount Everest and its neighboring peaks to the process of post-glacial rebound, which raises these peaks higher faster than their erosion due to sculpting. By studying the erosion rates of the Arun River, the Kosi River, and other rivers in the region, the team was able to determine that the Arun River joined the Kosi River network and merged with it about 89,000 years ago, according to For the press release Published on the University College London website.
During this natural process called river piracy — a process in which a stronger river overtakes a weaker one and forces it to change its course to the stronger river — more water was channeled through the Kosi River, and its sculpting power increased as water levels rose, washing away the area’s soil and sediments. As more land was bulldozed, an increasing rate of uplift was stimulated, pushing the mountaintops higher and higher.