The Himalaya

Abstract

A brief introduction of the Himalaya is given. Evolution of the Himalaya began with break-up of the supercontinent Gondwanaland into Antarctica, Africa, Australia, and India around 140 Ma. The Indian plate moved towards north and the Indo-Eurasian collision took place somewhere between ~65 and ~43 Ma. The Himalaya started rising and led to monsoonal rains in the Indian region. Now the mountain has a vast reserve of fresh water in form of ice. It supports thick forests and is a source of many perennial rivers of north India. However, despite of several blessings, the active mountain has few inherent dangers as well, e.g. seismicity, landslides, floods, glacial lake outburst, etc. Hence the study of Himalaya is important not only from the scientific point of view but also from the societal point of view. Tectonic sub divisions of the Himalaya are illustrated.