What Holds Up the Himalayas?

Scientists have discovered that a 100-year-old theory about Earth’s highest mountain range is wrong.

The Himalayas were formed when the Asian and Indian continents collided around 50 million years ago. Tibet was squeezed so hard it crumpled and shrank. Eventually, India slipped under the Eurasian tectonic plate, which doubled the thickness of Earth’s crust beneath the Himalayas and Tibet.

Until now, the theory has been that this extra-thick crust carries the weight of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. In 1924, geologist Emile Argand published research showing the 2 crusts stacked on top of each other, stretching 45-50 miles (70-80 km) deep under Earth’s surface.

But researchers now say that rocks in the crust turn molten about 25 miles (40 km) down because of extreme temperatures. The lowermost layers become like yogurt, which won’t support a mountain.

New research says there is a piece of mantle sandwiched between the 2 crusts. The mantle is a layer that usually sits directly beneath the crust. Being denser than the crust, it doesn’t liquify at the same temperatures. The crust is buoyant, similar to an iceberg. It lifts higher the thicker it gets.

A computer simulation of the collision between the Asian and Indian continents showed that as the Indian crust began to liquify, blobs of it rose and attached to the base of the rigid outer layer. This means there is a rigid layer of mantle between the stacked crusts, which solidifies the structure beneath the Himalayas. While the 2 crusts give buoyancy to the region lifted, the mantle material provides mechanical strength.

Then the researchers compared their simulation with seismic data and information obtained from rocks. They found that the mantle sandwich matched previous evidence that Arnand’s theory couldn’t explain. Enigmatic observations are more easily explained with this model. This study presents strong evidence, but it is controversial because Arnaud’s theory has been widely adopted.

These results explain a number of geological oddities in the region. The scientists ran lots of simulations using different thicknesses for the layers, and they always got a bit of mantle sandwiched between the 2 crusts.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-geology-that-holds-up-the-himalayas-is-not-what-we-thought-scientists-discover/ar-AA1Ly8l6?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=58b796c6ff6143d886f6d7199af0640e&ei=51

A Map to the Ark

A 3,000-year-old map has finally told scientists where to locate Noah’s Ark.

After years of study, the world’s oldest map has been deciphered, and scientists believe it reveals the final resting place of Noah’s Ark.

The Imago Mundi is a Babylonian clay tablet featuring a writing system using wedge-shaped symbols (cuneiform) to describe how the world was created, according to the Christians. Researchers have done a deeper analysis to decipher the map and discover biblical references.

The back of the tablet describes what a traveler will see on the journey to a ‘parsiktu vessel’. ‘Parsiktu’ is a word that explains the size of a boat that would be needed to survive the Great Flood. Following the instructions, researchers found a path to ‘Urartu’ where an ancient Mesopotamian poem says a man and his family landed an ark. ‘Urartu’ is the Assyrian equivalent of ‘Ararat’, which is the Hebrew word for the mountain where Noah’s ark crashed.

It seems that from the Babylonian point of view, the story of the ark was a matter-of-fact thing, and if you went on this journey, you would find the remnants of this historic boat.

The Imago Mundi was found in what is now Iraq in 1882. Its cuneiform text was only used by the Babylonians. They also etched a map of what seems to show the entire known world at the time the tablet was made. On the map, Mesopotamia sits at the bottom center, enclosed by a circle that represents a ‘bitter river’ that was believed to surround the entire world.

The tablet has been damaged, but at one time, it featured 8 triangles that signified mountains described on the back.

The ‘parsiktu’ measurement is only known from one other cuneiform tablet. It basically describes the Ark that was built, theoretically, by the Babylonian version of Noah. While the Imago Mundi is dated to 3,000-years-ago, the biblical great flood supposedly happened about 5,000-years-ago.

In the Bible, the ark settled on the ‘mountains of Ararat’ in Turkey following a 150-day flood. The ark measured ‘300 cubits, 50 cubits, by 30 cubits’, which translates to 515 feet long, 86 feet wide, and 52 feet high.

A team has been excavating the mountain in question for years. In 2023, they found clay, marine materials, and seafood, which placed humans at the scene between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scientists-decipher-3-000-year-old-map-to-find-location-of-noah-s-ark/ar-AA1t8G6m?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6fc7dd98f17b42d8852b3bbcb7f5d7c6&ei=26