Mountain ranges grow fast
2006/01/30 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia
Researchers at the University of Rochester have studied two methods to study the speed at which mountain ranges grow. Through them the Andes are analyzed and in both the same conclusion is reached: they rose faster than previously thought.
It is difficult to measure the growth of the mountains. On the one hand, as mountains grow, the climate erodes, but the climate is changing, it is not a constant factor. On the other hand, with height and time, the environment is changing, which also hinders the work of geologists. Therefore, researchers needed a reliable method and, instead of one, they have tried two.
They have worked on the Bolivian plateau and analyzed sediments from 12-5 million years ago. One of the methods has studied the composition of minerals and hence rainfall over time. The other technique has been studied at what temperature the rocks were formed.
Both methods coincide: The Andes rose between 10 and 7 million years. The result is surprising, since so far no one thought they had grown so fast, but researchers have also given an explanation of it. It seems that the phenomena that occur in the lithosphere of the mantle push the mountains up and therefore grow so fast.
Both research has been published in scientific journals, Science and Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Photo: Martin / University of Bonn.
