ORIGIN OF HIMALAYAS

MADE BY-LavanyaClass VII A

These views may be grouped under three categories:

(a)geosynclinals evolution(b)plate tectonics(c)vertical movements

Origin of Himalayas

TECTONICS PLATES

Our continents are carried by a series of tectonic plates located in the earth’s lithosphere. These

plates collide with and separate from each other at different rates determined by a process known as convection. Directly below the lithosphere is the inner mantle known as the aesthenosphere. Convection currents are generated in the earth’s

inner mantle as molten rock forms from the radioactive decay of elements. As hot gas and

liquid is produced it moves upward, displacing the cooler and denser gas and liquid. As this

convection process happens, those circulations push the lithosphere’s plates (and the seven

continents that sit on top of them), slowly shifting the globe’s landscape over time. The direction and

rate of movement is totally dependent on what kinds of convection currents are at work below.

Geosynclinals Evolution

Exponents of this opinion mainly base their deduction on the sedimentary nature of the Himalayan rocks majority of which have evidence of marine origin and contain fossils of marine organisms. Even the enormous thickness of the Himalayan rocks allows them to associate their deposition under the bed of sea whose floor underwent sinking with the increasing weight of the deposits.

The geosynclinals origin of the Himalayas has obtained maximum approval from the scholars. The theories of Suess, Argand, Kober etc. all belong to this category. Ac cording to geologists the disintegration of Pangaea led to the formation of a long Mediterranean sea (called Tethys) between the two land masses of Angaral and (north) and Gondwanaland (south).

Vertical Movements

Those who advocate vertical movements re sponsible for the upliftment of the Himalayas take support from the fact that the gravitational force, the main force among the various bodies in space, can act only radially inhibiting enormous horizontal translocation implicit in plate tectonics.

HOW HIMALAYAS FORMED

Once, all the world’s landmass was connected, forming one super-

continent known as Pangea. Approximately 200 million years ago, tectonic forces broke apart this giant

continent into pieces, eventually forming the continents we know today.

As convection currents worked independently on the plates associated with these new continental pieces, the plates and their respective continents began to drift across the globe to their

present-day geographical locations.

Eighty million years ago, India was approximately 6400 km (3968 miles) south of the Eurasian

plate. Separating the two was the Tethys Sea. The Indo-Australian tectonic plate – containing

the continent of Australia, the Indian subcontinent, and surrounding ocean – was

pushed northward by the convection currents generated in the inner mantle. For millions of

years, India made its way across the sea toward the Eurasian plate. As India approached Asia, around 40 million years ago, the Tethys Sea

began to shrink and its seabed slowly pushed upwards. The Tethys Sea disappeared

completely around 20 million years ago and sediments rising from its seabed formed a

mountain range.

When India and Tibet collided, instead of descending with

the plate, the relatively light sedimentary and metamorphic

rock that makes up the subcontinent of India pushed

against Tibet, forcing it upwards, and created a

massive mountain fold. The Himalayas.

This process hadn’t stopped yet. The indo-australian plate is still moving towards Eurasia

,still pushing Tibet upwards.The Himalayas still

continue to an average of 2cm every year .The highest

mountains are only getting higher.

VIEWS OF ORIGIN OF HIMALAYAS

According to Suess the fold ing of the Himalayas has been caused by the com- pressional forces which have worked from the north and led to

the folding of the detritus deposited in the bed of the Tethys. In this process the land mass of Angara land lying north of the Tethys acted as

backland whereas Gondwanaland along the southern margin of the Tethys behaved as

foreland and remained stationary. Due to the southward movement of Angaraland the

Tethyan sediment was compressed against the Peninsular mass yielding place to three

successive are like ranges from west to east owing to two extended horns of the Peninsula (the Aravalis and Delhi ridge in the west and

Meghalaya plateau in the east).

PARTS OF HIMALAYAS

THE PARTS OF HIMALAYAS ARE:

HIMADRIHIMACHALSHIWALIK

HIMADRIGreat Himalayas, also called Higher

Himalayas or Great Himalaya Range,  highest and northernmost

section of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It extends

southeastward across northern Pakistan, northern India, and

Nepal before trending eastward across Sikkim state (India) and

Bhutan and finally turning northeastward across northern

Arunachal Pradesh state (India); throughout nearly all of its length

it adjoins to the north the southern Tibet Autonomous

Region of China. The range’s total length is some 1,400 miles (2,300

km), and it has an average elevation of more than 20,000 feet (6,100 meters). The Great Himalayas contain many of the world’s tallest peaks, including

(from west to east) Nanga Parbat, Annapurna, Mount Everest, and

Kanchenjunga.

HIMACHAL

The state of Himachal Pradesh is spread over an area 55,673 km² and is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the southwest,

Haryana on the south, Uttarakhand on the southeast and Tibet on the east. Himachal is a

mountainous region, rich in its natural resources.Elevation ranges from 450 meters to 6,500 meters

above sea level. The region extends from the Shivalik range of mountains (barely

mountainous region). There is a noticeable increase in elevation from west to east and from

south to north.

SHIWALIKS

The Shiwalik hills is a mountain range of the outer Himalayas

also known as Manak Parbat in ancient times. Shivalik literally means 'tresses of Shiva’. This

range is about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) long enclosing an area that starts almost from

the Indus and ends close to the Brahmaputra, with a gap of about 90 kilometers (56 mi)

between the Teesta and Raidak rivers in Assam. The width of the Shivalik hills varies from 10 to 50 km (6.2 to 31.1 mi),

their average elevation is 1,500 to 2,000 m (4,900 to

6,600 ft).

RIVERS OF HIMALAYASThe five main rivers of the Himalayas

are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. The Himalayas is the

birthplace of many important rivers. The rivers of the Himalayas give a new

dimension to the beautiful scenic beauty of the Himalayan region. The rivers are the main source of life in

those areas. It helps in the formation of the forest belt and irrigation process

in these regions.

TOURIST SPOT (HIMALAYAS)The panoramic view of the mountain

ranges attracts traveler across the world. The early Aryans use to

consider Himalayas as the adobe of Gods and Goddess. In 1852 the

highest mountain in the world was named after Sir George Everest as

Mount Everest. Some facts about the Himalayas expeditions are: As Nepal opened its frontiers in 1949 to the

outside world people explored ten of the fourteen 8000m peaks. Some of

the major among them areAnnapurna (8091m) was the first

peak to be climbed in 1950, and then in 1953 it was Mount Everest (8848m) and Nanga Parbat (8125m). From that time onwards many expeditions have

been made and by 1964 all the Himalayan peaks had been climbed.

Thank You!