Question

Write the characteristics and features of Himalayas.

Answer 1

The most characteristic features of the Himalayas are their great height, complex geologic structure, snowcapped peaks, large valley glaciers, deep river gorges, and rich vegetation. From south to north the Himalayan ranges can be grouped into four parallel belts of varying width—these are the Outer, or Sub-, Himalayas; the Lesser, or Lower, Himalayas; the Great, or Higher, Himalayas; and the Tethys, or Tibetan, Himalayas. The Karakoram Range in the northwest is also sometimes considered part of the Himalayan system. The mountains can be divided broadly into three regions. The backbone of the system is the Great Himalayas, a single range rising above the snow line with nine of the 14 highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest. Geologically the Himalayas are relatively young folded mountains and are still undergoing the mountain-building process. Precambrian metamorphic rocks—rocks formed by heat and pressure from 4.6 billion to 570 million years ago—make up much of the structure. The uplift took place in at least three phases. The first phase occurred at the close of the Eocene epoch (about 33 million years ago) when the Great and Tethys Himalayas were uplifted. In the second phase, which occurred in the Miocene epoch (approximately 23 million to 5.3 million years ago), ranges of the Lesser Himalayas were formed. The final mountain-building phase started in the late Neogene period (about 7 million years ago) when the Siwalik Range, the foothills of the Outer Himalayas, were formed.