Hey peeps! I can't believe I am already in the Himalayas, it is halfway around the world, whcih means I will have to go home soon :( When I checked into Hotel Himalaya I was super duper excited because later today I am going to go tour K2 with my awesome guides Angie and Gleb. They are going to teach me more information about the plate boundaries here! I think this destination will be the toughest for the race contestants because the air up at this elevation is hard to breathe in. They should always be up for a challenge though! I hope they learn something to!
So, what I know so far, is that the Himalayas are located on a convergent collision boundary. In a collision boundary, two continental plates move towards each other and since they are less dense and lighter, neither of them can move downward. When they collide, the crust slowly builds up and moves upward to form mountains. In the Himalayas, the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate collided and formed the Himalayan mountains, which are the highest mountains in the world.
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K2 Mountain, Himalayas, Collision Boundary
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/K2_2006b.jpg |
Earthquakes are common in the Himalayas and there have been 4 major earthquakes in the last 100 years. In 1933 an earthquake in these mountains killed thousands of people in Nepal and India. However, there are no or very few volcanoes in the Himalayas because it is a collision boundary and there is no subduction occurring. If you ever end up hiking in the here at K2, where I am today, be sure to hire Angie and Gleb as your Sherpas/tour guides because they are amazing. Tell them you are a friend of Jessica's and they will give you a discount ;)!
-Jessica ;)
Latitude: 35°52'52.58"N
Longitude: 76°30'44.57"E
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Example of a Collision Boundary
http://nwghost.com/uaist361673s08/hatfield/platemovement/collision.html |
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