How did the Himalayan Mountains form?
1 Answer
The theory of plate tectonics explains the formation of the Himalayans by the collision of two continental plates.
Explanation:
Most places on the earth the convergent boundaries are places with the a continental plate collides with an oceanic plate. In a convergent boundary where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate the oceanic plate is subducted or pushed under the continental plate. This type of convergent boundary creates mountains like the Andes, and the Sierra's.
The Himalayans are thought to have been formed when the continental plate with the Indian sub continental plate collided with the Asian plate. The collision of two continental plates has even more mountain building power than the collision of a oceanic plate and a continental plates. Both of the continental plates are buckled and pushed upward. This buckling due to the collision of two continental plates at the convergent boundary is what is thought to have created the Himalayans.
