Do the Mountains Grow? Mount Everest increased by 26 feet?

Do the Mountains Grow? Mount Everest increased by 26 feet? So let’s check this strange fact.

Do the mountains grow? Yes, absolutely they grow!

In 1850, the height of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, was measured and estimated to be 29,002 feet. A study conducted after a century, found that its height was 29,028 feet. Scientists found out that its height had increased by 26 feet. Following the studies on it, it was found that the fold mountains grow slightly every year.

The height of the mountains increases due to some geological processes that lead to their slow and irregular rise. This includes folding of rock layers. Raising of these layers is often accompanied by faulting or displacement of the rock layers. The processes that lead to the formation of mountains is termed as “Orogeny”.

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This happened about 50 million years ago, that the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan mountain range were formed as a result of the collision of the Indian tectonic plate into the Eurasian plate. Even today, the process continues and hence there is a tiny increase in the height of the mountain range every year.

Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India named the mountain as Mount Everest in 1865, . He named it after his predecessor surveyor Sir George Everest, as Waugh could not find a local name to name the peak.

The summit is called Sagarmatha or “Goddess of the sky” in Nepal and Qomolangma or “Holy Mother” in Tibetan.

The summit of Mount Everest increases by about 2 cm every year; However, this process can be interrupted by other natural events such as earthquakes. The devastating earthquake in Nepal in April 2015 is believed to have changed the height of the summit.

References:
1. Wikipedia
2. Wikipedia about mountain