Question

The Himalayas are often referred to as the roof of the world because they are the highest peaks on Earth, most famously Mt. Everest. The rock that caps Mt. Everest is limestone, a type of rock that forms at the bottom of warm, shallow seas and is composed primarily of fossilized marine organisms, from plankton to clams and fish. For years, geologists struggled to explain how the remains of tiny sea organisms could exist at the top of a mountain range. In fact, conflicting explanations arose from this evidence.The contraction theory implied that mountain ranges like the Himalayas were forced up by the wrinkling process. This theory assumed that all of the features on Earth had formed during one cooling event.

What theory, proposed at the same time, provided another explanation?

Answer 1

The Plate Tectonics theory explains the presence of fossilized marine organisms on Mount Everest as a result of the collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, which uplifted seabed materials to form the Himalayas.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The theory proposed around the same time that provided another explanation for the fossilized marine organisms found on the summit of Mount Everest is plate tectonics. This theory suggests that mountain chains, such as the Himalayas, are the result of tectonic plates colliding.
• The collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate, which began about 70 million years ago, pushed up the Earth to create the mountain range, and continues to do so, raising the Himalayas by one to five millimeters per year.
• The presence of Ordovician limestone on the summit of Mt. Everest, which formed at the bottom of warm, shallow seas, indicates that the region was once part of a sea floor that has been uplifted to its current height through the process of continent-continent convergence at tectonic plate boundaries.
• The Plate Tectonic theory is now widely accepted and explains the presence of marine fossil layers found at the peaks of many of the world's highest mountains.