Question

This map shows how India's position has changed over time. The Himalayas formed at the boundary between India and the main body of Eurasia. Explain what caused India's motion and how the mountains formed. Use what you know about plate tectonics.

Answer 1

Answer:

The major reason for the formation of the Himalayas is the drift of various components of the supercontinent, some 140 millions years ago resulting in breaking of the continent.

Explanation:

Until roughly 140 million years ago, the Indian tectonic plate comprised the supercontinent Gondwana including  modern Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and South America. As the different continents started to drift apart at different velocities, the supercontinent broke down into smaller pieces and led to the formation of the Himalayas.

Answer 2

Answer:

Around 40 and 50 million years ago, this enormous mountain range started to develop when two massive land masses, India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided. Since both of these continental land masses have about the same density of rock, it was not possible to subdue one plate under another. The pressure of the impinging plates could only be relieved by thrusting skyward, contorting the collision zone, and forming the jagged Himalayan peaks

Explanation:

India was about 6400 km (3968 miles) south of the Eurasian plate 80 million years ago. The Tethys Sea divided the two. The tectonic plate of Indo-Australia–containing Australia's continent, the Indian subcontinent, and the surrounding ocean–was pushed north by the convection currents produced in the inner mantle. India has made its way through the sea toward the Eurasian plate for millions of years. When India approached Asia, the Tethys Sea began to shrink about 40 million years ago, with its seabed gradually moving upward.The Tethys Sea vanished entirely about 20 million years ago and a mountain range was formed by sediments rising from its seabed. As India and Tibet collided, rather than coming down with the plate, the comparatively light sedimentary and metamorphic rock that makes up India's subcontinent pressed against Tibet, pushing it upward, and formed a massive mountain fold. "The Himalayas.

That cycle has not been stopped. The Indo-Australian plate begins to roll toward Eurasia, moving Tibet upward. Every year the Himalayas keep rising by an average of 2 cm. The highest mountains just get bigger.