Everest, with its height of 8849 meters, is the largest in the world. So how did the events that caused this develop?
Geologists suggest that part of the mountain’s extra height is due to two ancient rivers that flowed along the Himalayas and merged about 89,000 years ago. They say that the resulting erosion removed so much rock and soil that Everest jumped up by as much as 50 meters.
Matt Fox from University College London commented on this, saying, ‘This situation increased Everest’s rise.'”
Everest is located at an altitude of 8,849 meters above sea level and is part of the Himalayan mountain range, which includes the world’s third-highest peak, Kanchenjunga (8,586 meters). It’s also close to the second-highest peak, K2 (8,611 meters). The Himalayas rose as a result of India’s collision with the rest of Asia.
It is suggested that the Arun River played a significant role in increasing Everest’s height. Fox’s study argues that the Arun River carved its channel through the mountains over time, and this erosion process contributed to Everest’s rise. This phenomenon, known as river piracy, indicates that the Arun River initially had a different route but later cut through the Himalayas to form its current path.
It was stated that the large amount of sediment carried away by the Arun through erosion lightened the mass of the mountains and led to the rising of the crust through a process called isostatic rebound, potentially contributing between 15 to 50 meters to Everest’s height.