A “weird” river in the Himalayas may have pushed the peak of Mount Everest up by 164 feet (50 meters), scientists say.
According to a new study, a river roughly 46 miles (75 kilometers) from Everest was “captured” by another around 89,000 years ago. The erosion from this event carved away a huge gorge, leading to a loss of landmass that made the mountain experience a major growth spurt.
At 29,031.69 feet (8,848.86 m) above sea level, Mount Everest is Earth’s highest peak on land. But it “is taller than it should be,” study co-author Adam Smith, a researcher at University College London’s Earth Sciences department, told Live Science in an email. In the Himalayas, the height difference between most mountain peaks is about 164 to 328 feet (50 to 100 m). But Everest is 820 feet (250 m) higher than the next highest mountain, K2. “This perhaps hints that something interesting is going on,” Smith said.
GPS data shows Everest is growing at a…
