The top of Mount Everest was once underwater.
Marine Fossils/Geology In
According to Geology In, long before it became the highest point on Earth, the summit belonged to an ancient ocean floor. Scientists have confirmed that the rocks found at the peak were formed in the warm and shallow waters of the prehistoric Tethys Ocean. This ocean existed hundreds of millions of years ago and was home to a rich world of marine life.
The highest point of Everest is made up of what geologists call the Qomolangma Formation. These rocks were laid down around four hundred and fifty million years ago. They formed from layers of sediment that slowly hardened into limestone, dolomite and shale. Within these layers lie the fossilised remains of creatures that once lived on the sea floor. Climbers and scientists have identified the fragments of trilobites, crinoids also known as sea lilies, brachiopods and ancient corals.
Below the summit sits the Yellow Band. This famous feature is a broad stripe of marble and metamorphosed limestone. It too began as seabed sediment that was later changed by heat and pressure during the formation of the mountain.
The journey from ocean floor to sky high summit
Around fifty million years ago the movement of Earths tectonic plates brought India into a powerful collision with Eurasia. As the two plates pushed together the sea floor between them was squeezed upward. Over millions of years this immense pressure created the Himalayan mountain range. The once horizontal layers of ocean rock were lifted high above sea level until they eventually formed the snowy summit of Mount Everest.
The deeper levels of the mountain reveal even more dramatic geological changes. Rocks such as gneiss, schist and quartzite show how intense pressure and movement shaped the range from deep within the crust.
What this discovery tells us
Mount Everest carries an ancient ocean on its shoulders. The summit stones preserve a record of warm tropical waters filled with life. The fossils found there are not new discoveries created by recent changes in climate. They are remnants of marine ecosystems that vanished long before the first humans appeared.
Even today the Himalayan range continues to rise as tectonic forces remain active. Everest is still growing very slowly each year.
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