New research suggests a continent is breaking apart beneath the Himalayas. The Indian plate is literally splitting, with its lower layer descending deep into the Earth.
A geological process is unfolding beneath the Himalayas that could change the understanding of our planet’s structure. New studies show that the Indian lithospheric plate is literally splitting into pieces, with its lower layer sinking into the Earth’s mantle.
Scientists note that this process is slow but continuous—and that is precisely what is causing concern. According to data collected by geophysicists and geochemists, the upper part of the Indian plate continues to slide beneath Tibet, forming the mountains, while the lower part is detaching and plunging deeper into the planet, creating vertical faults in the Earth’s crust.
One confirmation of this process came from analyzing gases from 200 hot springs in Tibet, where the isotope helium-3 was found—an element that rises only from the mantle. Furthermore, seismic station data revealed subterranean structures indicating the plate’s delamination (splitting).
Seismologist Anne Meltzer from Lehigh University notes that such processes can shed light on the formation of continents and explain the nature of major earthquakes that occur in the sites of ancient continental collisions.
According to the researchers, what is being observed beneath Tibet is not just a geological anomaly but evidence of how the Earth continues to “live” and change even millions of years after the formation of the Himalayas.
