THE HIMALAYAS
 

Among the most dramatic and visible creations of plate-tectonic forces are the lofty Himalayas, which stretch 2,900 km along the border between India and Tibet. This immense mountain range began to form between 40 and 50 million years ago, when two large landmasses, India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided. Because both these continental landmasses have about the same rock density, one plate could not be sub ducted under the other. The pressure of the impinging plates could only be relieved by thrusting skyward, contorting the collision zone, and forming the jagged Himalayan peaks. The north of India is decisively bordered by the long sweep of Himalayan ranges, the highest and longest mountain  on the earth. It’s difficult to describe the Himalayas to anyone who hasn’t seen them. Their sheer enormity and grandeur are a complete assault on the senses.(20)

Himalaya stretch 2,500 km from NW to SE and between 150 and 400 kms from north to south. They provide a dramatic barrier between South Asia and China. Their scale is unparalleled anywhere in the world. Of the 94 mountains in Asia above 7,300m, all but two are in the Himalaya (including the Karakoram) No where in the world are there mountains as high.

The Himalaya are not a single mountain range but a series of ranges with beautiful valleys wedged between them. The Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh and the Vale of Kashmir are both Himalayan valleys. Bhutan in the east and Nepal – in the centre also lie along the Himalaya, as does Sikkim, Darjeeling the northern part of Uttar Pradesh,

Kanchenjunga (8598 metres) is the highest mountain in India, although untill Sikkim (and Kanchenjunga) were absorbed into India that honour went to Nanda Devi (7817 metres). Beyond the Himalaya stretches the high, dry and barren Tibetan Plateau, in Ladakh. A small part of this plateau actually lies with in India’s boundaries. The final southern range of the Himalaya, the Shivalik hills, ends abruptly in the great northern plains of India. Indian Himalayas is one of the toughest regions in the world for high-altitude adventure sports like mountaineering, hiking, trekking, white-water rafting, skiing, and fishing.

Sunset view of Mount Everest

 

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