Imagine standing on the ocean floor 8,000 meters above sea level Everestyou will find a marine fossil. You shouldn’t be surprised as fossils of marine animals have been found near the top of the mountain Everestthe findings continue to interest the scientific community and the public. Climbers and geologists report the remains of trilobites, crinoids and brachiopods buried high in the Himalayas. These fossils are not a recent invasion. They are part of sedimentary rocks formed millions of years before the mountains existed. Their presence reflects deep geological changes related to plate tectonics and the long-term closure of ancient oceans. Evidence collected over decades links these marine sediments to the pre-Tethys Ocean, which once separated the Indian continent from Asia. The rocks now exposed at extreme elevations were once deposited under sea water and later lifted up as the continents converged.
Fossilized shells on Mount Everest prove the Himalayas were once under the sea
according to geological societythe summit of Mount Everest was formed at the bottom of the Tethys Ocean. About 225 million years ago, the Indian Plate lay far south in Asia, separated by vast ocean basins. Sediments accumulate along its edges. Fragments of shells and bones were deposited in layers, slowly hardening into rock.These layers remain in place when tectonic forces reshape the area. The fossils seen today are ordinary sea creatures from that distant period. Their altitude seems unusual.
The drift of the Indian plate has reshaped the region (Image source – Geological Society)
Indian plate drift reshapes region
About 200 million years ago, when the supercontinent Pangea began to break apart, the Indian plate began moving northward. Eighty million years ago, it was thousands of kilometers south of Asia, but still advancing steadily. The oceanic crust of the Tethys Ocean was pushed beneath the subduction zone at the edge of Eurasia, in an environment similar to that of the Andes today.Not all matter disappears underground. Thick oceanic sediments were scraped away and pressed against the edge of Eurasia. Over time, these accumulated sediments became part of the rising mountain range.
The Himalayas continue to rise by 1 centimeter per year
Between 50 and 40 million years ago, the Indian and Eurasian continental plates collided. Neither plate sinks easily because they are both buoyant continental crust. Instead, the crust shrank, thickened, and rose. This collision marked the beginning of the Himalayan uplift.The Himalayas stretch about 2,900 kilometers from east to west. At 8,848 meters above sea level, Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth. Geological surveys show that the range is still rising at a rate of more than a centimeter per year as India continues to advance north. Meanwhile, erosion has the opposite effect. Rocks are worn away by ice, wind and water. The balance slowly shifts. Fossils remain in place, quiet traces of an ocean that once covered the roof of what is now the world.
