Why is Mount Everest so tall? - Michele Koppes

00:04:52
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy9GFAOGGXU

Summary

TLDRMount Everest, known as the highest peak on Earth, draws adventurers each year who wish to conquer its challenging ascent. Despite being considered the highest due to its altitude of 8850 meters, Mauna Kea surpasses in height when measured from base to summit. Everest's colossal formation began around 50 million years ago from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, resulting in a major geological uplift. Beyond formation, Everest's remarkable shape is influenced by uplift, erosion, ice flow, and climate conditions. Most notably, its location near the tropics means smaller glaciers, maintaining its towering height despite natural erosion processes. However, ongoing changes in the Earth's geology and climate could potentially decrease its height over time. Everest's enduring status continues to challenge and captivate climbers and dreamers worldwide.

Takeaways

  • 🏔️ Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level at 8850 meters.
  • 🌋 Mauna Kea is taller than Everest when measured from base to summit.
  • 🌍 Everest formed 50 million years ago from tectonic plate collision.
  • ⛏️ Erosion and uplift balance determine a mountain's shape.
  • ❄️ Climate affects the snowline and the presence of glaciers.
  • 🧊 Glaciers carve mountains with their flowing ice.
  • 🔄 Ongoing geological and climate changes may reduce Everest's height.
  • 🗻 Everest is legendary among hikers and adventurers for its challenging climb.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:04:52

    Hundreds of adventurers gather each year at Everest's base camp, enduring months of waiting for an opportunity to climb Earth's highest peak. Mount Everest, rising 8850 meters above sea level, symbolizes a monumental challenge due to its extreme altitude and the inherent risks involved. The mountain's formation is the result of tectonic activity; specifically, the collision and uplift of Earth's crust as the Indian Plate presses against the Eurasian Plate. This collision occurred 50 million years ago, forming immense uplift. Mountains like Everest are shaped by a balance between uplift and erosion, with weather influencing their form through precipitation and temperature. Everest's icy prominence is maintained by its initial massive uplift and its tropical location, where high snowlines limit the extent of erosive glaciers. As such, despite the ongoing dynamic changes in Earth's geological and climatic systems, Everest remains a legendary conquest for climbers.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Why do people want to climb Mount Everest?

    Many are drawn to Everest for its status as the highest mountain on Earth, the challenge, and the breathtaking views.

  • Is Mount Everest the tallest mountain in the world?

    Everest has the highest altitude at 8850 meters above sea level, but Mauna Kea is technically the tallest from base to summit.

  • How was Mount Everest formed?

    Everest was formed by the collision and uplift of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates around 50 million years ago.

  • What role does weathering play in shaping mountains?

    Weathering breaks down rocks, and water erodes and carves the landscape, creating valleys and peaks.

  • How does climate influence mountain shape?

    Climate affects snowline height and glacier formation, which in turn shapes and carves the mountains.

  • What might the future hold for Mount Everest's height?

    Changes in continental plates, climate, and erosion could potentially lower Everest’s height over time.

  • Why aren't all mountains the same?

    Differences in uplift speed, erosion rates, and climate conditions create varied mountain shapes and sizes.

  • What's the role of glaciers in mountain formation?

    Glaciers erode the rocks beneath them, shaping the mountains with their icy, grinding movement.

  • Where is Mount Everest located?

    Everest is located on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, in the Himalayas.

  • What forces balanced create a mountain's shape?

    The balance between geological uplift and erosion determines a mountain's structure and appearance.

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  • 00:00:07
    Every spring,
  • 00:00:08
    hundreds of adventure-seekers dream of climbing Qomolangma,
  • 00:00:12
    also known as Mount Everest.
  • 00:00:14
    At base camp, they hunker down for months
  • 00:00:17
    waiting for the chance to scale the mountain's lofty, lethal peak.
  • 00:00:22
    But why do people risk life and limb to climb Everest?
  • 00:00:26
    Is it the challenge?
  • 00:00:27
    The view?
  • 00:00:28
    The chance to touch the sky?
  • 00:00:32
    For many, the draw is Everest's status as the highest mountain on Earth.
  • 00:00:37
    There's an important distinction to make here.
  • 00:00:40
    Mauna Kea is actually the tallest from base to summit,
  • 00:00:44
    but at 8850 meters above sea level,
  • 00:00:47
    Everest has the highest altitude on the planet.
  • 00:00:51
    To understand how this towering formation was born,
  • 00:00:54
    we have to peer deep into our planet's crust,
  • 00:00:57
    where continental plates collide.
  • 00:01:00
    The Earth's surface is like an armadillo's armor.
  • 00:01:03
    Pieces of crust constantly move over,
  • 00:01:06
    under,
  • 00:01:07
    and around each other.
  • 00:01:08
    For such huge continental plates, the motion is relatively quick.
  • 00:01:13
    They move two to four centimeters per year,
  • 00:01:16
    about as fast as fingernails grow.
  • 00:01:18
    When two plates collide,
  • 00:01:20
    one pushes into or underneath the other, buckling at the margins,
  • 00:01:25
    and causing what's known as uplift to accomodate the extra crust.
  • 00:01:29
    That's how Everest came about.
  • 00:01:32
    50 million years ago, the Earth's Indian Plate drifted north,
  • 00:01:36
    bumped into the bigger Eurasian Plate,
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    and the crust crumpled, creating huge uplift.
  • 00:01:42
    Mountain Everest lies at the heart of this action,
  • 00:01:45
    on the edge of the Indian-Eurasian collision zone.
  • 00:01:49
    But mountains are shaped by forces other than uplift.
  • 00:01:52
    As the land is pushed up, air masses are forced to rise as well.
  • 00:01:58
    Rising air cools, causing any water vapor within it to condense
  • 00:02:02
    and form rain or snow.
  • 00:02:05
    As that falls, it wears down the landscape,
  • 00:02:07
    dissolving rocks or breaking them down in a process known as weathering.
  • 00:02:12
    Water moving downhill carries the weathered material
  • 00:02:15
    and erodes the landscape,
  • 00:02:17
    carving out deep valleys and jagged peaks.
  • 00:02:20
    This balance between uplift and erosion gives a mountain its shape.
  • 00:02:25
    But compare the celestial peaks of the Himalayas
  • 00:02:28
    to the comforting hills of Appalachia.
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    Clearly, all mountains are not alike.
  • 00:02:33
    That's because time comes into the equation, too.
  • 00:02:35
    When continental plates first collide, uplift happens fast.
  • 00:02:40
    The peaks grow tall with steep slopes.
  • 00:02:43
    Over time, however, gravity and water wear them down.
  • 00:02:46
    Eventually, erosion overtakes uplift,
  • 00:02:49
    wearing down peaks faster than they're pushed up.
  • 00:02:52
    A third factor shapes mountains: climate.
  • 00:02:55
    In subzero temperatures, some snowfall doesn't completely melt away,
  • 00:03:00
    instead slowly compacting until it becomes ice.
  • 00:03:03
    That forms the snowline, which occurs at different heights around the planet
  • 00:03:08
    depending on climate.
  • 00:03:11
    At the freezing poles, the snowline is at sea level.
  • 00:03:14
    Near the equator, you have to climb five kilometers before it gets cold enough
  • 00:03:19
    for ice to form.
  • 00:03:21
    Gathered ice starts flowing under its own immense weight
  • 00:03:24
    forming a slow-moving frozen river known as a glacier,
  • 00:03:28
    which grinds the rocks below.
  • 00:03:30
    The steeper the mountains, the faster ice flows,
  • 00:03:33
    and the quicker it carves the underlying rock.
  • 00:03:37
    Glaciers can erode landscapes swifter than rain and rivers.
  • 00:03:41
    Where glaciers cling to mountain peaks, they sand them down so fast,
  • 00:03:45
    they lop the tops off like giant snowy buzzsaws.
  • 00:03:49
    So then, how did the icy Mount Everest come to be so tall?
  • 00:03:54
    The cataclysmic continental clash from which it arose
  • 00:03:57
    made it huge to begin with.
  • 00:04:00
    Secondly, the mountain lies near the tropics,
  • 00:04:03
    so the snowline is high, and the glaciers relatively small,
  • 00:04:07
    barely big enough to widdle it down.
  • 00:04:10
    The mountain exists in a perfect storm of conditions
  • 00:04:13
    that maintain its impressive stature.
  • 00:04:15
    But that won't always be the case.
  • 00:04:17
    We live in a changing world where the continental plates,
  • 00:04:20
    Earth's climate,
  • 00:04:22
    and the planet's erosive power
  • 00:04:23
    might one day conspire to cut Mount Everest down to size.
  • 00:04:28
    For now, at least, it remains legendary in the minds of hikers,
  • 00:04:32
    adventurers,
  • 00:04:33
    and dreamers alike.
Tags
  • Mount Everest
  • climbing
  • geology
  • uplift
  • erosion
  • climate
  • glaciers
  • adventure
  • Himalayas
  • altitude