Everest reaches new heights - 21st October 2024

The Earth’s highest mountain’s getting even higher. Mount Everest already rises 8,849 metres above sea level. Now scientists believe it’s rising faster than before.

Everest lies in the Himalayas, which is the mountain range at the border of the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian plate. It was created 50 million years ago when the two tectonic plates collided. It’s been rising ever since, but geologists in China and the UK recently discovered that this has been getting faster.

The team decided to explore possible causes. Co-author of the study Professor Dai Jingen wrote that tectonic activity didn’t fully explain the mountain’s growth.

From their research, the team learned of a geologic event which took place 90,000 years ago. The Kosi and Arun rivers combined around 80 kilometres from Everest. The combined force of these rivers has washed away millions of tonnes of rock. This has left the area around Everest significantly lighter. Dai Jing’s team believe this is the reason for Everest’s amazing growth.

Because the area’s lost so much weight, the pressure within the Earth is pushing the land back out. This has caused Everest to rise an additional 15 to 50 metres in the past 89,000 years. And the effect continues to add between .16 and .53 of a millimetre to its growth each year. For geologists, this rate is staggering.

Melting glaciers are also a factor, says Dr Matthew Fox, who co-wrote the study. Loss of ice and snow is reducing the weight on the mountains.