Convergent Zones -->Himalayas' Edition

This is Isabella posting my final blog for KWX- marine news about convergent zones! For this special blog about continent to continent convergence, we will be traveling all the way to the Himalayan mountain range. I will be staying at the home of a scientist named Aadrika Mehra whom lives IN the Himalayas. Well..not inside of them but in the range that is! Here is a picture I took of the home.

Unfortunately when I uploaded it to my computer, something didn't work correctly so it's in black and white. At least you get a look at how they live here in the Himalayas! The one closest to you in the picture is where I will be staying for the next week or so :) Its really fascinating how different the life-styles are here vs. Iceland. If you want to find us on GPS the coordinates are 27 degrees 59'16' N and 86 degrees 55'40''

Okay so here is what a continental-continental convergence looks like

(http://www.platetectonics.com/book/page_5.asp)

Now lets put the peices of the puzzle together! What could the Himalayan's be? First we need to continental crusts. So I asked Aadrika which continental crusts lie around the Himalayas and she said that there is the Eurasian plate and the Indian Plate. So two components: Check! Now lets get back to the  real mechanics of continental convergence.

(http://geography.howstuffworks.com/asia/the-himalayas.htm)

First off, unlike ocean-ocean, and ocean-continent convergence very little subduction happens because the two continental plates are very thick and when they collide their density is lower than the mantle. After this collision, slowly but surely after millions of years have passed, the convergence of the continental plates which is the reason why the Himalaya's (and the Tibetan plateau) are pushed up to the height they are now.

Lets get back to components. So look up at the picture about conergence, it also shows that a high plateau is needed to complete this puzzle, and that would be the Tibetan plateau! So now that we have finished being detectives, this shows how the Himalayan mountain range is a perfect example of continental convergence.

(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicloVIWvJ6nrVX9lw8e-pGdmi-iF24dTGFww9gGFmugdX2k48Uqb21KXcfAu_HcDL_MBS2VkGQqO2GAwCvJ2ivmDblWDE70xNdoIJnM559VT54QG6Gxp1W-ZNLfKwWrKkKOXaf3PsNcE0/s400/HimalayanMountains.jpg)

There is frequent earthquake activity and sometimes the earthquakes can be quite violent. Geologist Aadrika believes its because the mountains are fairly young, and are still growing. There are only a few volcanoes that formed in the Himalayas because there was little melting because the rocks aren't pushed into very great depths. Earthquakes happen 24/7 in this mountain range, some more significant than others. The most recent quake that occurred which did a fair amount damage happened on June 1st in 2001.

Well friends, thats all I have to say about Convergent Zones! Our next topic will be transform plates (some pretty tricky stuff). I hope you all have enjoyed this post and follow me on my journey. Thanks for reading, this is Isabella reporting for KWX- marine news.