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A " weird " river in the Himalayas may have pushed the peak of Mount Everest up by 164 feet ( 50 meters ) , scientists say .
According to a new study , a river roughly 46 miles ( 75 kilometers ) from Everest was " capture " by another around 89,000 years ago . The eroding from this event carved off a immense gullet , leading to a loss of landmass that made the mountain experience a major growth spurt .
Mount Everest may be taller than it should be because of a river “capture” event 89,000 years ago.
At 29,031.69 feet ( 8,848.86 m ) above ocean level , Mount Everestis Earth ’s highest peak on country . But it " is magniloquent than it should be , " sketch atomic number 27 - authorAdam Smith , a researcher at University College London ’s Earth Sciences department , tell Live Science in an email . In the Himalayas , the height difference between most mountain eyeshade is about 164 to 328 feet ( 50 to 100 m ) . But Everest is 820 feet ( 250 m ) high than the next highest mountain , K2 . " This perhaps hints that something interesting is going on , " Smith said .
GPS information shows Everest is uprise at a charge per unit of around 0.08 inch ( 2 millimeters ) per year , which is higher than the expect pace of uplift for the muckle range . To get out the root word cause , the researchers looked at whether the Himalayas ' strange rivers could be driving the rise .
" The Arun River is weird , as it flows in an L shape , " Smith said . " Most rivers resemble tree , with a comparatively straight luggage compartment , and arm ( affluent ) flowing into the tree trunk . However , the Arun menstruate E - W [ east to west ] along its upstream portion , before turn 90 degrees and flow south through the Himalayas . This suggest that perhaps the river has recently change its variant , and has maybe ' captured ' another river . "
The Arun River in the Himalayas appears to have been “captured” by the larger Kosi network, causing erosion in the region.
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For the study , published Monday ( Sept. 30 ) in the journalNature Geoscience , the researchers used mathematical models to simulate how the Kosi River electronic internet — which flows throughChina , Nepal and India — evolve over time . They then equate their models with the existing topography to play out which computer simulation fitted best .
The findings suggest that the Arun River ( now a main affluent of the Kosi River ) was captured by Kosi around 89,000 year ago . This divert river take to a surge in river erosion , cut up out the Arun River Gorge .
The creation of this defile and wearing away of the river , the investigator argue , would have removed enough landmass to make the palisade estate lighter , get Everest to spring up . The sight has rise between 50 and 164 feet ( 15 to 50 m ) since the capture event , according to the poser .
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It ’s unclear what caused the river to get becharm , Smith said . It could have been one river eroding into another , with the Kosi River eat away backwards until it entered the Arun River and " stole " part of it , he enunciate . Another opening is that a glacial lake overflowed , unleashing a catastrophic flood that wiped out the natural roadblock between the Kosi and Arun rivers . " We are not sure which mechanism is most probable , " Smith said .
Everest should proceed baffle magnanimous until the river net has fully reply to the changes that took stead , Smith say . The next step in the enquiry could be to look more nearly at the oesophagus and other areas that the Arun River fall over . This will enable them to specialise down dates for the capture event that the role model can be checked against .
