The Himalayan Mountains were formed by a continental convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates.
At 28,169 feet, Mount Kanchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world, behind only Everest and K2. The mountain's name means "The Five Treasures of Snows," referring to its five peaks. Kanchenjunga is located in the Himalayas, an 1,800-mile belt of towering mountains along the India-Tibet border. The peak was formed over millions of years by a process called orogeny. This orogenic process deformed the rock under tremendous pressure, forcing it upward.
Pangea
The formation of Kanchenjunga began over 250 million years ago when India, Africa, Australia and South America were all united as one supercontinent, called Pangea. Early in the Cretaceous period, around 200 million years ago, this supercontinent fractured into several plates, representing today's continents. At this time, the Indian plate was separated from Tibet, located on the Eurasian plate, by an ancient sea known as the Tethys.
Effects of Plate Tectonics
According to plate tectonics, the crust of the Earth is comprised of approximately a dozen large plates. These plates float on the Earth's mantle, a fluid body of molten magma. The convective nature of this magma causes the plates to slowly drift, like boxes on a conveyor belt. This movement leads to plate collisions, called convergences. Mount Kanchenjunga was created by one of these powerful collisions, a result of the Pangean breakup.
Formation of the Tibetan Plateau
Following the break-up of Pangea, the Indian plate began to move northward, traveling at up to 6 inches a year. As it moved, it began to squeeze the Tethys Sea between itself and the Tibetan region of the Eurasian plate. Because the oceanic crust was denser than the continental crust of the Eurasian plate, the seafloor was subducted under Tibet. This led to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, which is now the largest and highest plateau in the world. Kanchenjunga is located in the Himalayas, which run along the southern edge of the plateau and mark the collision zone between the two plates.
Continental Collision
By 40 million to 50 million years ago, the Tethys Sea had been all but erased and the two continental plates finally collided, slowing the advance of the Indian plate by one half. Unlike the Tethys' oceanic crust, the continental crust of India had the same density as that of the Eurasian plate, meaning neither plate could subduct under the other. The plates simply continued to crush together, creating tremendous pressure. This pressure caused the plates to buckle, deforming the rock in a process known as orogeny. As the pressure increased, the crust had nowhere to go but up. This uplift is what created the Himalayas and, more specifically, Mount Kanchenjunga.
Mount Kanchenjunga Today
Mount Kanchenjunga lies in the region known as the Higher Himalayas. This region lies along an east-west axis that marks the greatest orogenic uplift, and thus the highest of the Himalayan peaks. The Indian plate continues to relentlessly and forcefully move to the north, pushing Kanchenjunga, and all of the Himalayas, ever higher. Kanchenjunga continues to rise at around 1/2 inch per year. However, natural weathering counters some of this rise through erosion.
Tags: Mount Kanchenjunga, Eurasian plate, Indian plate, million years, continental crust
