“Groundbreaking” Revelations Reshaping Himalayan Geological History

Mount Everest stretches some 8,848 meters up from the ground, making it the highest peak on Earth (though not the tallest mountain…). Together with its Himalayan Range compatriots, they make up some of the most striking vistas and dangerous locations on the planet. However, according to new research out of Florida State University, they may also be reshaping some geographical history.

 

For a long time scientists have assumed that these peaks sprung up many millions of years ago.

"Establishing an accurate history of tectonic and associated elevation changes in the region is important because uplift of the Tibetan Plateau has been suggested as a major driving mechanism of global climate change over the past 50-60 million years," said Yang, an associate professor in FSU's Department of Geological Sciences and a researcher at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. "What's more, the region also is thought to be important in driving the modern Asian monsoons, which control the environmental conditions over much of Asia, the most densely populated region on Earth." 

But now, a discovery some 15,000 feet up Tibet’s Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau, Florida State researchers, led by Yang, have found thick layers of sediment which are filled with remnants of plant, fish and animals. These finds are typical, for lower elevations, and warmer and wetter climates, but definitely not the norm so far up.  

What these fossils are now forcing scientists to consider, is that the upshift that created the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau, may have taken place much more recently than first suspected. The evidence discovered has been aged, through a paleo-magnetic study, which found them to be some 2 or 3 million years old.  

"The uplift chronology of the Tibetan Plateau and its climatic and biotic consequences have been a matter of much debate and speculation because most of Tibet's spectacular mountains, gorges and glaciers remain barely touched by man and geologically unexplored," Yang said. "So far, my research colleagues and I have only worked in two basins in Tibet, representing a very small fraction of the Plateau, but it is very exciting that our work to-date has yielded surprising results that are inconsistent with the popular view of Tibetan uplift. 

Analysis of the samples at the Florida State National High Magnetic Field Laboratory showed the animals’ diet consisted of a large amount of plants. They also found that their demise, which took place during the late Pliocene era, was as a result of a drastic climate change at the time.  

These samples throw a veritable mass of spanners into the works, considering the treeless, rocky steppes that are the Himalayan-Tibetan Mountains. But once again, science and what we thought to be true, begins to unravel, and now scientists are beginning to question past methods in detailing the geographical history of the region.

Posted by Josh Hill.

Source Link:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/fsu-ffi061108.ph

Comments

[Nephish777]

I bet if they checked the fossils for Carbon 14 they would find it and not from the current environment. I suspect the mountains rose much more recently than 50,000 years ago.

I understand that coal deposits can be Carbon14 dated, natural graphite cannot ber found without C14 in it.