Mount Everest: Mount Everest, located on the Nepal border, is the world’s highest mountain peak. When its height was measured a few years ago, it came to light that the height of Mount Everest is increasing, while recent research has revealed the reason behind this, although some questions are being raised on the results of the research it is very interesting in itself.
The height of the world’s highest mountain peak Mount Everest is increasing. You may find this very strange to hear but it is completely true. The most important thing is that the reason for its increase in height is a river.
The current height of Mount Everest is about 8849 meters. Whereas in 2005 when its height was measured, it was 8844 meters. A research by University College London has revealed an important factor behind its increase in height.
The height of Mount Everest is increasing every year:
According to this research, due to the Arun River flowing 75 kilometers away from Mount Everest, its height has increased from 15 to 50 meters in about 89000 years. Due to the change in the ground level of the river, the height of Everest is increasing by 2 millimeters every year. This change can be seen with the help of GPS devices.
Is the river increasing the height of Mount Everest?
In fact, the Himalayas were formed millions of years ago due to the collision (earthquake) of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Till now, the friction of the tectonic plates has been considered the main reason behind its increase in height.
But research by University College London has revealed a unique aspect. According to the research, when the Arun River flows downwards from the Himalayas, it brings a lot of debris. This debris is a layer on the upper surface of the earth, due to which the pressure on the lower layer of the earth decreases. Due to this, this thin layer gets uprooted and rises upwards and starts flowing with the Arun River.
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Adam Smith, who is involved in this research, says that this process is such that when you start throwing things from a ship, it becomes lighter. And due to this, the ship starts floating a little higher on the water. Similarly, when a river flowing under the earth carries debris, the earth’s layer rises up.
This process is called ‘isostatic rebound’. According to the researchers, this is the reason why the height of Mount Everest is increasing.
Questions are being raised on the results of the research:
Professor Hugh Sinclair of the School of Geo-Sciences of Edinburgh University says that the reasons highlighted in this research seem reasonable but there are some questions on it. He said that considering the process of erosion in the river bed as the reason for the height of Mount Everest seems a bit uncertain.
Hugh says that it is a difficult task to predict river erosion in such a large area, although the researchers of University College London also accept this and say that it is very difficult to say that the mountains are getting higher only due to erosion in the river bed, but despite this uncertainty, this fact revealed in the research is quite interesting.
Who measures the height of Mount Everest?
Mount Everest is the world’s largest mountain peak. Its peak falls in the region of Nepal and here it is known as Sagarmatha. In 2017, Nepal started measuring the height of the world’s highest peak. Because it was believed that after the earthquake in 2015, it had also affected Mount Everest. After this, China also joined this work later, after about 2 years this work was completed. When its results were released, it was very shocking.
In the year 2020, China and Nepal jointly measured its height and shared the data. According to this data, the height of Mount Everest had increased to 8849 meters. Whereas in 2005 when China measured it, its height was reported to be 8844.43 meters.
