168-594: The Yumthang Valley or Sikkim Valley of Flowers sanctuary , is a nature sanctuary with river, hot springs, yaks and grazing pasture on rolling meadows surrounded by the Himalayan mountains in Yumthang in the Mangan district of Sikkim state in India . It is approx. 75 km from Mangan town, the district headquarters. It is at an elevation of 3,564 metres (11,693 ft) above msl at
336-533: A circumstellar disk , and then the planets grow out of that disk with the Sun. A nebula contains gas, ice grains, and dust (including primordial nuclides ). According to nebular theory , planetesimals formed by accretion , with the primordial Earth being estimated as likely taking anywhere from 70 to 100 million years to form. Estimates of the age of the Moon range from 4.5 Ga to significantly younger. A leading hypothesis
504-492: A common barycenter every 27.32 days relative to the background stars. When combined with the Earth–Moon system's common orbit around the Sun, the period of the synodic month , from new moon to new moon, is 29.53 days. Viewed from the celestial north pole , the motion of Earth, the Moon, and their axial rotations are all counterclockwise . Viewed from a vantage point above the Sun and Earth's north poles, Earth orbits in
672-542: A counterclockwise direction about the Sun. The orbital and axial planes are not precisely aligned: Earth's axis is tilted some 23.44 degrees from the perpendicular to the Earth–Sun plane (the ecliptic ), and the Earth-Moon plane is tilted up to ±5.1 degrees against the Earth–Sun plane. Without this tilt, there would be an eclipse every two weeks, alternating between lunar eclipses and solar eclipses . The Hill sphere , or
840-483: A distance of 150 kilometres (93 mi) from the state capital Gangtok . It is popularly known as 'Valley of Flowers' and is home to the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary , which has over twenty-four species of the rhododendron , the state flower. The flowering season is from late February and to mid June, when countless flowers bloom to carpet the valley in multicolored hues of rainbow. A tributary of
1008-420: A full rotation about its axis so that the Sun returns to the meridian . The orbital speed of Earth averages about 29.78 km/s (107,200 km/h; 66,600 mph), which is fast enough to travel a distance equal to Earth's diameter, about 12,742 km (7,918 mi), in seven minutes, and the distance from Earth to the Moon, 384,400 km (238,900 mi), in about 3.5 hours. The Moon and Earth orbit
1176-421: A globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system. At Earth's polar regions , the ocean surface is covered by seasonally variable amounts of sea ice that often connects with polar land, permafrost and ice sheets , forming polar ice caps . Earth's land covers 29.2%, or 149 million km (58 million sq mi) of Earth's surface. The land surface includes many islands around the globe, but most of
1344-425: A liquid outer core that generates a magnetosphere capable of deflecting most of the destructive solar winds and cosmic radiation . Earth has a dynamic atmosphere , which sustains Earth's surface conditions and protects it from most meteoroids and UV-light at entry . It has a composition of primarily nitrogen and oxygen . Water vapor is widely present in the atmosphere, forming clouds that cover most of
1512-464: A location is dependent on the season, orientation and bearing with respect to the Sun , and the mass of the mountain. As the Sun is the major contributor to the temperature, it is often directly proportional to the received radiation from the Sun with faces receiving more sunlight having a higher heat buildup. In narrow valleys between steep mountain faces, the weather conditions may differ significantly on both
1680-490: A notable increase in the rate of glacier retreat across the region as a result of climate change. The rate of retreat varies across regions depending on the local conditions. Since 1975, a marked increase in the loss of glacial mass from 5–13 Gt/yr to 16–24 Gt/yr has been observed with an estimated 13% overall decrease in glacial coverage in the Himalayas. The resulting climate variations and changes in hydrology could affect
1848-508: Is rounded into an ellipsoid with a circumference of about 40,000 km. It is the densest planet in the Solar System . Of the four rocky planets , it is the largest and most massive. Earth is about eight light-minutes away from the Sun and orbits it , taking a year (about 365.25 days) to complete one revolution. Earth rotates around its own axis in slightly less than a day (in about 23 hours and 56 minutes). Earth's axis of rotation
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#17328726451272016-456: Is a chemically distinct silicate solid crust, which is underlain by a highly viscous solid mantle. The crust is separated from the mantle by the Mohorovičić discontinuity . The thickness of the crust varies from about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) under the oceans to 30–50 km (19–31 mi) for the continents. The crust and the cold, rigid, top of the upper mantle are collectively known as
2184-574: Is about 125 km from Gangtok. Himalaya The Himalayas , or Himalaya ( / ˌ h ɪ m ə ˈ l eɪ . ə , h ɪ ˈ m ɑː l ə j ə / HIM -ə- LAY -ə, hih- MAH -lə-yə ) is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau . The range has several peaks exceeding an elevation of 8,000 m (26,000 ft) including Mount Everest ,
2352-700: Is also the source of major streams of the Ganges river system. The Eastern Himalayas form the eastern most stretch of the range and consist of the states of parts of Tibet in China, Sikkim , Assam , Arunachal Pradesh , parts of other North East Indian states and north West Bengal in India, entirety of Bhutan, mountain regions of central and eastern Nepal, and most of the western lowlands in Nepal. The eastern Himalayas broadly consists of two regions–the western Nepal Himalayas and
2520-507: Is among the highest in the world, at typically around 5,500 m (18,000 ft) while several equatorial mountains such as in New Guinea , the Rwenzoris , and Colombia , have a snow line at 900 m (3,000 ft) lower. As the physical features of mountains are irregular, with broken jagged contours, there can be wide variations in temperature over short distances. The temperature at
2688-474: Is amongst the most affected regions due to climate change . Since the late 20th century, scientists have reported a notable increase in the rate of glacier retreat and changes occurring at a far rapid rate. As per a 2019 assessment, the Himalayan region, which had experienced a temperature rise of 0.1 °C (32.2 °F) per decade was warming at an increased rate of 0.1 °C (32.2 °F) per decade over
2856-531: Is approximately 9.8 m/s (32 ft/s ). Local differences in topography, geology, and deeper tectonic structure cause local and broad regional differences in Earth's gravitational field, known as gravity anomalies . The main part of Earth's magnetic field is generated in the core, the site of a dynamo process that converts the kinetic energy of thermally and compositionally driven convection into electrical and magnetic field energy. The field extends outwards from
3024-517: Is contained in 3.45 billion-year-old Australian rocks showing fossils of microorganisms . During the Neoproterozoic , 1000 to 539 Ma , much of Earth might have been covered in ice. This hypothesis has been termed " Snowball Earth ", and it is of particular interest because it preceded the Cambrian explosion , when multicellular life forms significantly increased in complexity. Following
3192-673: Is disputed among India, Pakistan, and China. It is bordered by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges on the northwest, Tibetan Plateau in the north, and by the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the south. Its western anchor Nanga Parbat lies south of the northernmost bend of the Indus river and its eastern anchor Namcha Barwa lies to the west of the great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River . The Himalayas consists of four parallel mountain ranges:
3360-786: Is enabled by Earth being an ocean world , the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water . Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust . The remaining 29.2% of Earth's crust is land, most of which is located in the form of continental landmasses within Earth's land hemisphere . Most of Earth's land is at least somewhat humid and covered by vegetation , while large sheets of ice at Earth's polar deserts retain more water than Earth's groundwater , lakes, rivers and atmospheric water combined. Earth's crust consists of slowly moving tectonic plates , which interact to produce mountain ranges, volcanoes , and earthquakes. Earth has
3528-452: Is farthest out from its center of mass at its equatorial bulge, the summit of the volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador (6,384.4 km or 3,967.1 mi) is its farthest point out. Parallel to the rigid land topography the ocean exhibits a more dynamic topography . To measure the local variation of Earth's topography, geodesy employs an idealized Earth producing a geoid shape. Such a shape
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#17328726451273696-533: Is followed by monsoon rains from June to September. The post monsoon season is largely devoid of rain and snow before beginning of cold winters in December-January with intermediate spring before the summer. There are localised wind pressure systems at high altitudes resulting in heavy winds. Due to its high altitude, the range blocks the flow of cold winds from the north into the Indian subcontinent. This causes
3864-534: Is found in the mixed deciduous and conifer forests of the Eastern Himalayas and the Himalayan water shrew are found on the river banks. The forests of the foothills are inhabited by several different primates, including the endangered Gee's golden langur and the Kashmir gray langur , within highly restricted ranges in the east and west of the Himalayas, respectively. The yaks are large domesticated cattle found in
4032-516: Is gained if the ocean is idealized, covering Earth completely and without any perturbations such as tides and winds. The result is a smooth but irregular geoid surface, providing a mean sea level (MSL) as a reference level for topographic measurements. Earth's surface is the boundary between the atmosphere, and the solid Earth and oceans. Defined in this way, it has an area of about 510 million km (197 million sq mi). Earth can be divided into two hemispheres : by latitude into
4200-544: Is home to more than a billion people. In 2011, the population in the Himalayan region was estimated to be about 52.8 million with the combined drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers home to nearly 600 million. Of this, 7.96 million (15.1% of the total Himalayan population) live in Eastern Himalayas, 19.22 million in Central Himalayas (36.4%), and 25.59 million reside in Western Himalayas (48.5%). The population of
4368-426: Is liquid under normal atmospheric pressure. Differences in the amount of captured energy between geographic regions (as with the equatorial region receiving more sunlight than the polar regions) drive atmospheric and ocean currents , producing a global climate system with different climate regions , and a range of weather phenomena such as precipitation , allowing components such as nitrogen to cycle . Earth
4536-501: Is now slightly longer than it was during the 19th century due to tidal deceleration , each day varies between 0 and 2 ms longer than the mean solar day. Earth's rotation period relative to the fixed stars , called its stellar day by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), is 86,164.0989 seconds of mean solar time ( UT1 ), or 23 56 4.0989 . Earth's rotation period relative to
4704-552: Is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock . According to the modern theory of plate tectonics , it was formed as a result of a continental collision and orogeny along the convergent boundary between the India and Eurasian Plates . During the Jurassic period (201 to 145 mya ), the Tethys Ocean formed the southern border of then existent Eurasian landmass. When
4872-496: Is possibility of environmental degradation in near future. Skiing is conducted in the valley. Tourists may travel from Gangtok to Lachung (the nearest village where accommodation is available) by booking a full vehicle or shared one and stay over night. A direct journey to Yumthang is not feasible as roads are commonly foggy and it becomes dark very early around 5:30 pm. A trip to the Valley takes around two hours from Lachung, which
5040-612: Is rare, though the alternative spelling Gaia has become common due to the Gaia hypothesis , in which case its pronunciation is / ˈ ɡ aɪ . ə / rather than the more classical English / ˈ ɡ eɪ . ə / . There are a number of adjectives for the planet Earth. The word "earthly" is derived from "Earth". From the Latin Terra comes terran / ˈ t ɛr ə n / , terrestrial / t ə ˈ r ɛ s t r i ə l / , and (via French) terrene / t ə ˈ r iː n / , and from
5208-477: Is that it was formed by accretion from material loosed from Earth after a Mars -sized object with about 10% of Earth's mass, named Theia , collided with Earth. It hit Earth with a glancing blow and some of its mass merged with Earth. Between approximately 4.1 and 3.8 Ga , numerous asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment caused significant changes to the greater surface environment of
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5376-453: Is the basis for the astronomical unit (AU) and is equal to roughly 8.3 light minutes or 380 times Earth's distance to the Moon . Earth orbits the Sun every 365.2564 mean solar days , or one sidereal year . With an apparent movement of the Sun in Earth's sky at a rate of about 1°/day eastward, which is one apparent Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours. Due to this motion, on average it takes 24 hours—a solar day—for Earth to complete
5544-580: Is the lower middle sub-section of the Himalayas. It extends almost along the entire length of the Himalayas and is about 75 km (47 mi) wide. It is mostly composed of rocky surfaces and has an average elevation of 3,700–4,500 m (12,100–14,800 ft). The Greater Himalayas (also known as Himadri ) form the highest section of the Himalayas and extend for about 2,300 km (1,400 mi) from northern Pakistan to northern Arunachal Pradesh in India. The sub-range has an average elevation of more than 6,100 m (20,000 ft) and contains many of
5712-457: Is tied to that of the Sun. Over the next 1.1 billion years , solar luminosity will increase by 10%, and over the next 3.5 billion years by 40%. Earth's increasing surface temperature will accelerate the inorganic carbon cycle , possibly reducing CO 2 concentration to levels lethally low for current plants ( 10 ppm for C4 photosynthesis ) in approximately 100–900 million years . A lack of vegetation would result in
5880-451: Is tilted with respect to the perpendicular to its orbital plane around the Sun, producing seasons . Earth is orbited by one permanent natural satellite , the Moon , which orbits Earth at 384,400 km (1.28 light seconds) and is roughly a quarter as wide as Earth. The Moon's gravity helps stabilize Earth's axis, causes tides and gradually slows Earth's rotation . Tidal locking has made
6048-742: The Andaman Sea . The Salween , Mekong , Yangtze , and Yellow Rivers all originate from parts of the Tibetan Plateau, north of the great water divide. These are considered distinct from the Himalayan watershed and are known as circum-Himalayan rivers. The Himalayan region has multiple lakes across various elevations including endorheic freshwater and saline lakes . The geology of the lakes vary across geographies depending on various factors such as altitude, climate, water source, and lithology . Tarns are high altitude mountain lakes situated above 5,500 m (18,000 ft) and are formed primarily by
6216-559: The Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of the same tectonic processes that formed the Himalayas. The Indian plate continues to be driven horizontally at the Tibetan Plateau at about 67 mm (2.6 in) per year, forcing it to continue to move upwards. About 20 mm (0.79 in) per year is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front , which leads to the Himalayas rising by about 5 mm (0.20 in) per year. This makes
6384-639: The Dihang River to the India-Tibet border. The highest peak is the eastern anchor Namcha Barwa at 7,756 m (25,446 ft). The region is the source of many of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra River and consists of major mountain passes such as Nathu La , and Jelep La . Beyond the Dihang valley, the mountains extend as Purvanchal mountain range across the eastern boundary of India. The Himalayan range
6552-485: The Everest . At lower altitudes, the temperature is pleasantly warm during the summers. During winters, the low-pressure weather systems from the west cause heavy snowfall . There are two periods of precipitation with most of the rainfall occurring during the post summer season and moderate amount during the winter storms. The Himalayan range obstructs the path of the south west monsoon winds, causing heavy precipitation on
6720-734: The Indian epic Mahabharata , which is the personification of the Hindu deity Himavan . The mountain range is known as Himālaya in Hindi and Nepali (both written हिमालय ), Himalaya ( ཧི་མ་ལ་ཡ་ ) in Tibetan , Himāliya ( سلسلہ کوہ ہمالیہ ) in Urdu , Himaloy ( হিমালয় ) in Bengali , and Ximalaya ( simplified Chinese : 喜马拉雅 ; traditional Chinese : 喜馬拉雅 ; pinyin : Xǐmǎlāyǎ ) in Chinese . It
6888-515: The Indian subcontinent and the regions north of the range. The mountains are spread across more than eight degrees of latitude and hence includes a wide range of climatic zones including sub-tropical , temperate , and semi-arid . The climate in a region is determined by factors such as altitude, latitude, and the impact on monsoon. There are generally five seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn or post-monsoon, winter, and spring. The summer in April-May
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7056-406: The Indus , Ganges , and Tsangpo – Brahmaputra . Their combined drainage basin is home to nearly 600 million people including 52.8 million living in the vicinity of the Himalayas. The region is also home to many endorheic lakes. The Himalayas have a major impact on the climate of the Indian subcontinent. It blocks the cold winds from Central Asia , and plays a significant roles in influencing
7224-590: The Kashmir valley . The higher elevations consist of rock fragements and lithosols with very low humus content. The Himalayas and the Central Asian mountain ranges consist of the third-largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, after the Antarctic and Arctic regions. It is often referred to as the "Third Pole" as it encompasses about 15,000 glaciers, which store about 12,000 km (2,900 cu mi) of fresh water. The South Col and Khumbu Glacier in
7392-505: The Kumaon region. The northern extremes of the Great Himalayas in Kashmir and Ladakh receive only 3–6 in (76–152 mm) of rainfall per year. During the winter season, a high pressure system develops over Central Asia, which results in winds flowing towards the Himalayas. However, due to the presence of less water bodies in the Central Asian region, the moisture content is low. As
7560-555: The Kumaon region in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India, Indo-European speakers such as the Kanet and Khasi reside in the lower altitudes along with descendants of migrants from Tibet, who speak Tibeto-Burman languages, in the Kalpa and Lahul-Spiti regions. Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life . This
7728-1177: The Main Frontal Thrust and the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT); the Lesser Himalayan Zone between the MBT and the Main Central Thrust (MCT); the Higher Himalayan Zone beyond the MCT; the Tethyan Zone, separated by the South Tibetan Detachment System; and the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone, where the Indian plate is subducted below the Asian plate. The Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in
7896-566: The Milky Way and orbits about 28,000 light-years from its center. It is about 20 light-years above the galactic plane in the Orion Arm . The axial tilt of Earth is approximately 23.439281° with the axis of its orbit plane, always pointing towards the Celestial Poles . Due to Earth's axial tilt, the amount of sunlight reaching any given point on the surface varies over the course of
8064-474: The Mount Everest region are amongst the world's highest glaciers. The Gangotri which is 32 km (20 mi) long and is one of the largest glaciers, is one of the sources of the Ganges . The Himalayan glaciers show considerable variation in the rate of descent. The Khumbu moves about 1 ft (0.30 m) daily compared to certain other glaciers which move about 6 ft (1.8 m) per day. During
8232-722: The Pacific , North American , Eurasian , African , Antarctic , Indo-Australian , and South American . Other notable plates include the Arabian Plate , the Caribbean Plate , the Nazca Plate off the west coast of South America and the Scotia Plate in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The Australian Plate fused with the Indian Plate between 50 and 55 Ma . The fastest-moving plates are
8400-450: The Paris agreement , aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation . The actions are aimed at reducing emissions , increase the usage of renewable energy , and sustainable environmental practices. As the local population increasingly experience the impact of the changes in climate such as variations in temperature and precipitation, and change in vegetation, they are forced to adapt for
8568-703: The Sivalik Hills on the south; the Lower Himalayas ; the Great Himalayas , which is the highest and central range; and the Tibetan Himalayas on the north. The Sivalik Hills form the lowest sub-Himalayan range and extends for about 1,600 km (990 mi) from the Teesta River in the Indian state of Sikkim to northern Pakistan. The name derives from Sanskrit meaning "Belonging to Shiva ", which
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#17328726451278736-424: The Sivalik Hills on the south; the Lower Himalayas ; the Great Himalayas , which is the highest and central range; and the Tibetan Himalayas on the north. The range varies in width from 350 km (220 mi) in the north-west to 150 km (93 mi) in the south-east. The Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on Earth and is made up of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. It
8904-529: The Western Himalayas has characteristics of species from Central Asia and Mediterranean region. Fossils of species such as giraffe , and hippopotamus have been found in the foothills, suggesting the presence of African species some time ago. Large mammals such as Indian elephant , and Indian rhinoceros are confined to the densely forested moist ecosystems in the Eastern and Central Himalayas. Many of
9072-408: The Zanskar , Pir Panjal Ranges , and parts of the Sivalik and Great Himalayas. The western anchor Nanga Parbat is the highest point in the region at 8,126 m (26,660 ft). It is also referred Punjab, Kashmir or Himachal Himalyas from west to east locally. The central Himalayas or Kumaon extend for about 320 km (200 mi) along the state of Uttarakhand in northern India from
9240-419: The asthenosphere , the solid but less-viscous part of the upper mantle that can flow and move along with the plates. As the tectonic plates migrate, oceanic crust is subducted under the leading edges of the plates at convergent boundaries. At the same time, the upwelling of mantle material at divergent boundaries creates mid-ocean ridges. The combination of these processes recycles the oceanic crust back into
9408-415: The celestial equator , this is equivalent to an apparent diameter of the Sun or the Moon every two minutes; from Earth's surface, the apparent sizes of the Sun and the Moon are approximately the same. Earth orbits the Sun, making Earth the third-closest planet to the Sun and part of the inner Solar System . Earth's average orbital distance is about 150 million km (93 million mi), which
9576-413: The highest mountain on Earth. The mountain range runs for 2,400 km (1,500 mi) as an arc from west-northwest to east-southeast at the northern end of the Indian subcontinent. The Himalayas occupy an area of 595,000 km (230,000 sq mi) across six countries – Afghanistan , Bhutan , China , India , Nepal , and Pakistan . The sovereignty of the range in the Kashmir region
9744-464: The last ice age , there was a connected ice stream of glaciers between Kangchenjunga in the east and Nanga Parbat in the west. The glaciers joined with the ice stream network in the Karakoram in the west, the Tibetan inland ice in the north, and came to an end below an elevation of 1,000–2,000 m (3,300–6,600 ft) in the south. While the current valley glaciers of the Himalaya reach at most 20–32 km (12–20 mi) in length, several of
9912-429: The monsoons . The vast size, varying altitude range, and complex topography of the Himalayas result in a wide range of climates, from humid and subtropical to cold and dry desert conditions. The mountains have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia and Tibet . Many Himalayan peaks are considered sacred across various Indian and Tibetan religions such as Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism , and Bon . Hence,
10080-408: The ocean floor form the top of Earth's crust , which together with parts of the upper mantle form Earth's lithosphere . Earth's crust may be divided into oceanic and continental crust. Beneath the ocean-floor sediments, the oceanic crust is predominantly basaltic , while the continental crust may include lower density materials such as granite , sediments and metamorphic rocks. Nearly 75% of
10248-430: The precessing or moving mean March equinox (when the Sun is at 90° on the equator), is 86,164.0905 seconds of mean solar time (UT1) (23 56 4.0905 ) . Thus the sidereal day is shorter than the stellar day by about 8.4 ms. Apart from meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites, the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in Earth's sky is to the west at a rate of 15°/h = 15'/min. For bodies near
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#173287264512710416-562: The river Teesta flows past the valley and the town of Lachung , the nearest inhabited centre. Yumthang is closed between December and March due to heavy snowfall. There is also a hot spring in the valley. A forest rest house is the only permanent residence in the valley. During the spring months, the area blooms with rhododendrons, primulas , poppies , iris and other flora . During the summer months, villagers take their cattle to these heights to graze (a practice known as yaylag pastoralism ). In view of increasing number of tourists, there
10584-413: The sphere of gravitational influence , of Earth is about 1.5 million km (930,000 mi) in radius. This is the maximum distance at which Earth's gravitational influence is stronger than that of the more distant Sun and planets. Objects must orbit Earth within this radius, or they can become unbound by the gravitational perturbation of the Sun. Earth, along with the Solar System, is situated in
10752-464: The "last ice age", covered large parts of the continents, to the middle latitudes, in ice and ended about 11,700 years ago. Chemical reactions led to the first self-replicating molecules about four billion years ago. A half billion years later, the last common ancestor of all current life arose. The evolution of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's energy to be harvested directly by life forms. The resultant molecular oxygen ( O 2 ) accumulated in
10920-410: The 18th century till the independence of the constituent states in the mid 20th century. The long history along with various outside influences have resulted in the mixture of various traditions and existence of wide range of ethnicity in the region. People speak various languages belonging to four principal language families– Indo-European , Tibeto-Burman , Austroasiatic , and Dravidian , with
11088-457: The Brahmaputra river system from the Tibetan rivers to the north. There are 19 major rivers in the Himalayas which form part of the two major river systems of Ganges - Brahmaputra , which follow an easterly course and Indus , which follows a north-westerly course. The northern slopes of Gyala Peri and the peaks beyond the Tsangpo drain into the Irrawaddy River , which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through Myanmar to drain into
11256-428: The Cambrian explosion, 535 Ma , there have been at least five major mass extinctions and many minor ones. Apart from the proposed current Holocene extinction event, the most recent was 66 Ma , when an asteroid impact triggered the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but largely spared small animals such as insects, mammals , lizards and birds. Mammalian life has diversified over
11424-479: The Earth. Terra is also the name of the planet in some Romance languages , languages that evolved from Latin , like Italian and Portuguese , while in other Romance languages the word gave rise to names with slightly altered spellings, like the Spanish Tierra and the French Terre . The Latinate form Gæa or Gaea ( English: / ˈ dʒ iː . ə / ) of the Greek poetic name Gaia ( Γαῖα ; Ancient Greek : [ɡâi̯.a] or [ɡâj.ja] )
11592-420: The Himalayan lakes present the danger of a glacial lake outburst flood as they have grown considerably over the last 50 years due to glacial melting. While these lakes support a range of ecosystems and local communities, many of them remain poorly studied in terms of their hydrology and biodiversity. Due to its location and size, the Himalayas acts as a climatic barrier which affects the weather conditions of
11760-413: The Himalayan region geologically active and the movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate makes the region seismically active, leading to earthquakes from time to time. The northern slopes of the Himalayas have a thicker soil cover than the southern slopes due to presence of lesser number of rivers and streams. These soils are loamy and are dark brown in colour, and are covered with forests in
11928-531: The Himalayan region including Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan are amongst the most vulnerable countries in the Global South due to climate change. The temperature rise increases the incidence of tropical diseases such as malaria , and dengue further north. The extreme weather events might cause physical harm directly and indirectly due to lack of access and contamination of drinking water , pollution , exposure to chemicals, and destruction of crops, and drought . The climate change also impact
12096-613: The Himalayan region occurred in 2000 BCE when Aryans came from Central Asia and progressively settled along the plains to the south. Information on the Aryan culture in the region is found in Hindu literature such as the Vedas , and Puranas . Since the second century BCE, the Silk Road in China was connected to the Indian subcontinent by various routes running along the Himalayan region. The northern side of
12264-433: The Himalayan waters. The extremes of high altitude favor the presence of extremophile organisms, which include various species of insects such as spiders , and mites . The Himalayan fauna include endemic plants and animals and critically endangered or endangered species such as Indian elephant, Indian rhinoceros, musk deer and hangul . There are more than 7,000 endemic plants and 1.9% of global endemic vertebrates in
12432-426: The Himalayas has grown considerably over the last five decades from 19.9 million in 1961 with the annual growth rate (3.31%) more than three times higher than the world average (1.1%) during the same period. The earliest tribes in the Himalayas might have originated from Dravidian people from the south of the Indian subcontinent as evidenced by the presence of Dravidian languages . The major human migration towards
12600-447: The Himalayas reduce by 2 °C (36 °F) for every 300 m (980 ft) increase of altitude. Higher altitudes invariably experience low temperatures. In the Eastern Himalayas, Darjeeling at an altitude of 1,945 m (6,381 ft) has an average minimum temperature of 11 °C (52 °F) during the month of May, while the same has been recorded as −22 °C (−8 °F) at an altitude of 5,000 m (16,000 ft) on
12768-570: The Himalayas was under the influence of various Tibetan kingdoms across history. In the middle ages , the southern side came under the influence of various Rajput kings and later under the Mughal rule . Nepal was ruled by various kingdoms from both the Indian and Tibetan regions, until it was conquered by the Gurkha kingdom in the early 18th century. Most of the southern region came under the British influence in
12936-819: The Indian Himalayas. Pangong Lake spread across India and China is the highest saline lake in the world at an altitude of 4,350 m (14,270 ft) and amongst the largest in the region with a surface area of 700 km (270 sq mi). Spread across 189 km (73 sq mi), Wular Lake is amongst the largest fresh water lakes in Asia. Other large lakes include Tso Moriri , and Tso Kar in Ladakh , Nilnag , and Tarsar Lake , in Jammu and Kashmir , Gurudongmar , Chholhamu , and Tsomgo Lakes in Sikkim , Tilicho , Rara , Phoksundo , and Gokyo Lakes in Nepal. Some of
13104-527: The Latin Tellus comes tellurian / t ɛ ˈ l ʊər i ə n / and telluric . The oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4.5682 +0.0002 −0.0004 Ga (billion years) ago. By 4.54 ± 0.04 Ga the primordial Earth had formed. The bodies in the Solar System formed and evolved with the Sun. In theory, a solar nebula partitions a volume out of a molecular cloud by gravitational collapse, which begins to spin and flatten into
13272-745: The Moon always face Earth with the same side. Earth, like most other bodies in the Solar System, formed 4.5 billion years ago from gas and dust in the early Solar System . During the first billion years of Earth's history , the ocean formed and then life developed within it. Life spread globally and has been altering Earth's atmosphere and surface, leading to the Great Oxidation Event two billion years ago. Humans emerged 300,000 years ago in Africa and have spread across every continent on Earth. Humans depend on Earth's biosphere and natural resources for their survival, but have increasingly impacted
13440-426: The Moon and, by inference, to that of Earth. Earth's atmosphere and oceans were formed by volcanic activity and outgassing . Water vapor from these sources condensed into the oceans, augmented by water and ice from asteroids, protoplanets , and comets . Sufficient water to fill the oceans may have been on Earth since it formed. In this model, atmospheric greenhouse gases kept the oceans from freezing when
13608-458: The Solar System's planetary-sized objects, Earth is the object with the highest density . Earth's mass is approximately 5.97 × 10 kg ( 5.970 Yg ). It is composed mostly of iron (32.1% by mass ), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due to gravitational separation ,
13776-403: The Sun when the star reaches its maximum radius, otherwise, with tidal effects, it may enter the Sun's atmosphere and be vaporized. Earth has a rounded shape , through hydrostatic equilibrium , with an average diameter of 12,742 kilometres (7,918 mi), making it the fifth largest planetary sized and largest terrestrial object of the Solar System . Due to Earth's rotation it has
13944-594: The Sutlej River in the east to the Kali River in the west. The region comprises parts of Sivalik and Great Himalayas. At lower elevations below 2,400 m (7,900 ft), the region has a temperate climate and consists of permanent settlements. At elevations higher than 4,300 m (14,100 ft), permanent snow caps cover the Great Himalayas with the highest peaks being Nanda Devi at 7,817 m (25,646 ft) and Kamet at 7,756 m (25,446 ft). The region
14112-518: The Tethys ocean. The upliftment of the Himalayas occurred gradually and as the Great Himalayas became higher, they became a climatic barrier and blocked the winds, which resulted in lesser precipitation on the upper slopes. The lower slopes continued to be eroded by the rivers, which flowed in the gaps between the mountains and the folded lower Shivalik Hills and the Lesser Himalayas were formed due to
14280-585: The Tibetan Himalayas and the plateau beyond. It also played a role in the formation of Central Asian deserts such as the Taklamakan and Gobi . The monsoon is triggered by the different rates of heating and cooling between the Indian Ocean and Central Asia, which create large differences in the atmospheric pressure prevailing above each. As the Central Asian landmass heats up during the summer compared to
14448-534: The Western Himalayas. The high altitude mountainous areas are mostly barren or, at the most, sparsely sprinkled with stunted bushes. The Himalayas are home to various medicinal plants such as Abies pindrow used to treat bronchitis , Andrachne cordifolia used for snake bites , and Callicarpa arborea used for skin diseases . Nearly a fifth of the plant species in the Himalayas are used for medicinal purposes. Climate change , illegal deforestation , and introduction of non native species have had an effect on
14616-455: The animal species found in the region are unique and endemic or nearly endemic to the region. Other large animal species found in the Himalayas include Asiatic black bear , clouded leopard , and herbivores such as bharal , Himalayan tahr , takin , Himalayan serow , Himalayan musk deer , and Himalayan goral . Animals found at higher altitudes include brown bear , and the elusive snow leopard , which mainly feed on bharal. The red panda
14784-425: The atmosphere and due to interaction with ultraviolet solar radiation, formed a protective ozone layer ( O 3 ) in the upper atmosphere. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of complex cells called eukaryotes . True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies became increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful ultraviolet radiation by
14952-691: The bend of the Indus River along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region in the north-west to the Satlej river basin in India in the south-east. Most of the region lies in the Kashmir territory disputed between India and Pakistan with certain portions of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh . The Indus forms the division between the Western Himalayas and the Karakoram range to the north. The Western Himalayas include
15120-450: The center, the temperature may be up to 6,000 °C (10,830 °F), and the pressure could reach 360 GPa (52 million psi ). Because much of the heat is provided by radioactive decay, scientists postulate that early in Earth's history, before isotopes with short half-lives were depleted, Earth's heat production was much higher. At approximately 3 Gyr , twice the present-day heat would have been produced, increasing
15288-449: The condensation occurs at higher altitudes in the north, there is more precipitation in the Great Himalayas in the west during the winter rains and the precipitation reduces towards the east. In January, the Kumaon region receives about 3 in (76 mm) of rainfall compared to about 1 in (25 mm) in the Eastern Himalayas. The Himalayan region has a highly sensitive ecosystem and
15456-454: The continental crust , particularly during the early stages of Earth's history. New continental crust forms as a result of plate tectonics , a process ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from Earth's interior. Over the period of hundreds of millions of years, tectonic forces have caused areas of continental crust to group together to form supercontinents that have subsequently broken apart. At approximately 750 Ma , one of
15624-616: The continental surfaces are covered by sedimentary rocks, although they form about 5% of the mass of the crust. Earth's surface topography comprises both the topography of the ocean surface , and the shape of Earth's land surface. The submarine terrain of the ocean floor has an average bathymetric depth of 4 km, and is as varied as the terrain above sea level. Earth's surface is continually being shaped by internal plate tectonic processes including earthquakes and volcanism ; by weathering and erosion driven by ice, water, wind and temperature; and by biological processes including
15792-419: The core are chaotic; the magnetic poles drift and periodically change alignment. This causes secular variation of the main field and field reversals at irregular intervals averaging a few times every million years. The most recent reversal occurred approximately 700,000 years ago. The extent of Earth's magnetic field in space defines the magnetosphere . Ions and electrons of the solar wind are deflected by
15960-527: The core is primarily composed of the denser elements: iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements. The most common rock constituents of the crust are oxides . Over 99% of the crust is composed of various oxides of eleven elements, principally oxides containing silicon (the silicate minerals ), aluminium, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, or sodium. The major heat-producing isotopes within Earth are potassium-40 , uranium-238 , and thorium-232 . At
16128-463: The core, through the mantle, and up to Earth's surface, where it is, approximately, a dipole . The poles of the dipole are located close to Earth's geographic poles. At the equator of the magnetic field, the magnetic-field strength at the surface is 3.05 × 10 T , with a magnetic dipole moment of 7.79 × 10 Am at epoch 2000, decreasing nearly 6% per century (although it still remains stronger than its long time average). The convection movements in
16296-524: The days shorter. Above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle there is no daylight at all for part of the year, causing a polar night , and this night extends for several months at the poles themselves. These same latitudes also experience a midnight sun , where the sun remains visible all day. By astronomical convention, the four seasons can be determined by the solstices—the points in
16464-467: The downwarping of the intermediate lands. Minor streams ran between the faults within the mountains until they joined the major river systems in the plains. Intermediate valleys such as Kashmir and Kathmandu were formed from temporary lakes that were formed during pleistocene , which dried up later. The Himalayan region is made up of five geological zones– the Sub-Himalayan Zone bound by
16632-605: The earliest known supercontinents, Rodinia , began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia at 600–540 Ma , then finally Pangaea , which also began to break apart at 180 Ma . The most recent pattern of ice ages began about 40 Ma , and then intensified during the Pleistocene about 3 Ma . High- and middle-latitude regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and thaw, repeating about every 21,000, 41,000 and 100,000 years. The Last Glacial Period , colloquially called
16800-504: The eastern Assam Himalayas. The Nepal Himalayas forms the centre of the Himalayan curve and extend for 800 km (500 mi) between the Kali and Teesta Rivers . The Great Himalayas in the region form the highest part of the entire Himalayas and consist of many of the eight-thousanders including Everest, Kanchenjunga at 8,586 m (28,169 ft), and Makalu at 8,463 m (27,766 ft). These mountains host large glaciers that form
16968-495: The ecosystem. At higher altitudes, Eastern and Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests consisting of various conifers occur. Chir pine is the dominant species which occurs at elevations from 800–900 m (2,600–3,000 ft). Other species include Deodar cedar , which grows at altitudes of 1,900–2,700 m (6,200–8,900 ft), blue pine and morinda spruce between 2,200–3,000 m (7,200–9,800 ft). At higher altitudes, alpine shrubs and meadows occur above
17136-544: The equally large area of land under permafrost ) or deserts (33%). The pedosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's land surface and is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. Soil is crucial for land to be arable. Earth's total arable land is 10.7% of the land surface, with 1.3% being permanent cropland. Earth has an estimated 16.7 million km (6.4 million sq mi) of cropland and 33.5 million km (12.9 million sq mi) of pastureland. The land surface and
17304-417: The flora and fauna of the region. Changes might decrease the territory available for local wildlife and reduction in prey for the predators . This puts the animals in conflict with humans as humans might encroach animal territories and the animals might venture into human habitats for search of food, which might exacerbate the economic loss of the local population. The Himalayan nations are signatories of
17472-509: The flora of the range. The increase in temperature has resulted in shifting of various species to higher elevations, and early flowering and fruiting. Many of the animal species are from the tropics, which have adapted to the various conditions across the Himalayan range. Some of the species of the Eastern Himalayas are similar to those found in East and South East Asia , while the animals of
17640-405: The formation of the Tibetan plateau . During miocene (20 mya), the increasing collision between the plates resulted in the top layer of metamorphic rocks getting peeled, which moved southwards to form nappes with trenches in between. As the mountains received rainfall, the waters flowing down the mountains eroded and steepened the southern slopes. The silt deposited by these rivers and streams in
17808-638: The growth and decomposition of biomass into soil . Earth's mechanically rigid outer layer of Earth's crust and upper mantle , the lithosphere , is divided into tectonic plates . These plates are rigid segments that move relative to each other at one of three boundaries types: at convergent boundaries , two plates come together; at divergent boundaries , two plates are pulled apart; and at transform boundaries , two plates slide past one another laterally. Along these plate boundaries, earthquakes, volcanic activity , mountain-building , and oceanic trench formation can occur. The tectonic plates ride on top of
17976-404: The heat in Earth is lost through plate tectonics, by mantle upwelling associated with mid-ocean ridges . The final major mode of heat loss is through conduction through the lithosphere, the majority of which occurs under the oceans. The gravity of Earth is the acceleration that is imparted to objects due to the distribution of mass within Earth. Near Earth's surface, gravitational acceleration
18144-406: The land surface is taken by the four continental landmasses , which are (in descending order): Africa-Eurasia , America (landmass) , Antarctica , and Australia (landmass) . These landmasses are further broken down and grouped into the continents . The terrain of the land surface varies greatly and consists of mountains, deserts , plains , plateaus , and other landforms . The elevation of
18312-508: The land surface varies from a low point of −418 m (−1,371 ft) at the Dead Sea , to a maximum altitude of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) at the top of Mount Everest . The mean height of land above sea level is about 797 m (2,615 ft). Land can be covered by surface water , snow, ice, artificial structures or vegetation. Most of Earth's land hosts vegetation, but considerable amounts of land are ice sheets (10%, not including
18480-399: The lithosphere, which is divided into independently moving tectonic plates. Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere , a relatively low-viscosity layer on which the lithosphere rides. Important changes in crystal structure within the mantle occur at 410 and 660 km (250 and 410 mi) below the surface, spanning a transition zone that separates the upper and lower mantle. Beneath
18648-458: The livelihoods of the people in the Himalayas and the plains below. Despite its greater size, the Himalayas does not form a water divide across its span because of the multiple river systems that cut across the range. While the mountains were formed gradually, the rivers concurrently cut across deeper gorges ranging from 1,500–5,000 m (4,900–16,400 ft) in depth and 10–50 km (6.2–31.1 mi) in width. The actual water divide lies to
18816-410: The loss of oxygen in the atmosphere, making current animal life impossible. Due to the increased luminosity, Earth's mean temperature may reach 100 °C (212 °F) in 1.5 billion years, and all ocean water will evaporate and be lost to space, which may trigger a runaway greenhouse effect , within an estimated 1.6 to 3 billion years. Even if the Sun were stable, a fraction of the water in
18984-577: The lower ranges on the southern slopes speak Indo-European languages. The inhabitants of the Western Himalayas include the Kashmiri people , who speak Kashmiri in the Vale of Kashmir and the Gujjar and Gaddi people , who speak Gujari and Gaddi respectively in the lower altitudes of Jammu and Himachal Pradesh in India. The last two are pastoral and nomadic people, who own flocks of cattle and migrate across
19152-456: The lowercase when it is preceded by "the", such as "the atmosphere of the earth". It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as "what on earth are you doing?" The name Terra / ˈ t ɛr ə / occasionally is used in scientific writing and especially in science fiction to distinguish humanity's inhabited planet from others, while in poetry Tellus / ˈ t ɛ l ə s / has been used to denote personification of
19320-468: The lowlands and grassland meadows in the mid altitudes. The composition and texture of the soils in the Himalayas also vary across regions. In the Eastern Himalayas , the wet soils has a high humus content conducive for growing tea . Podzolic soils occur in the eastern range of the Indus basin between the Indus and Shyok Rivers . The Ladakh region is generally dry with saline soil while fertile alluvial soils occur in select river valleys such as
19488-497: The magnetosphere. During magnetic storms and substorms , charged particles can be deflected from the outer magnetosphere and especially the magnetotail, directed along field lines into Earth's ionosphere , where atmospheric atoms can be excited and ionized, causing an aurora . Earth's rotation period relative to the Sun—its mean solar day—is 86,400 seconds of mean solar time ( 86,400.0025 SI seconds ). Because Earth's solar day
19656-409: The magnetosphere; solar wind pressure compresses the day-side of the magnetosphere, to about 10 Earth radii, and extends the night-side magnetosphere into a long tail. Because the velocity of the solar wind is greater than the speed at which waves propagate through the solar wind, a supersonic bow shock precedes the day-side magnetosphere within the solar wind. Charged particles are contained within
19824-478: The magnetosphere; the plasmasphere is defined by low-energy particles that essentially follow magnetic field lines as Earth rotates. The ring current is defined by medium-energy particles that drift relative to the geomagnetic field, but with paths that are still dominated by the magnetic field, and the Van Allen radiation belts are formed by high-energy particles whose motion is essentially random, but contained in
19992-419: The main valley glaciers were 60–112 km (37–70 mi) long during the ice age. The glacier snowline (the altitude where accumulation and ablation of a glacier are balanced) was about 1,400–1,660 m (4,590–5,450 ft) lower than it is today. Thus, the climate would have been at least 7.0–8.3 °C (12.6–14.9 °F) colder than it is today. Since the late 20th century, scientists have reported
20160-411: The majority of the languages belonging to the first two categories. The Tibetan Himalayas are inhabited by Tibetan people , who speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The Great Himalayas are mostly inhabited by nomadic groups and tribes, with most of the population in Lesser Himalayas , and Shivalik Hills . People towards the Great Himalayas in the north parts mostly speak Tibeto-Burman, while populations in
20328-417: The mantle, an extremely low viscosity liquid outer core lies above a solid inner core . Earth's inner core may be rotating at a slightly higher angular velocity than the remainder of the planet, advancing by 0.1–0.5° per year, although both somewhat higher and much lower rates have also been proposed. The radius of the inner core is about one-fifth of that of Earth. The density increases with depth. Among
20496-600: The mantle. Due to this recycling, most of the ocean floor is less than 100 Ma old. The oldest oceanic crust is located in the Western Pacific and is estimated to be 200 Ma old. By comparison, the oldest dated continental crust is 4,030 Ma , although zircons have been found preserved as clasts within Eoarchean sedimentary rocks that give ages up to 4,400 Ma , indicating that at least some continental crust existed at that time. The seven major plates are
20664-404: The margins. The mountains act as heat islands and heavier mountains absorb and retain more heat than the surroundings, and therefore influences the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature from the winter minimum to the summer maximum. However, soil temperatures mostly remain the same on both the sides of a mountain at altitudes higher than 4,500 m (14,800 ft). Temperatures in
20832-548: The modern oceans will descend to the mantle , due to reduced steam venting from mid-ocean ridges. The Sun will evolve to become a red giant in about 5 billion years . Models predict that the Sun will expand to roughly 1 AU (150 million km; 93 million mi), about 250 times its present radius. Earth's fate is less clear. As a red giant, the Sun will lose roughly 30% of its mass, so, without tidal effects, Earth will move to an orbit 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) from
21000-399: The mother of Thor . Historically, "Earth" has been written in lowercase. Beginning with the use of Early Middle English , its definite sense as "the globe" was expressed as "the earth". By the era of Early Modern English , capitalization of nouns began to prevail , and the earth was also written the Earth , particularly when referenced along with other heavenly bodies. More recently,
21168-424: The name is sometimes simply given as Earth , by analogy with the names of the other planets , though "earth" and forms with "the earth" remain common. House styles now vary: Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the more common, with the capitalized form an acceptable variant. Another convention capitalizes "Earth" when appearing as a name, such as a description of the "Earth's atmosphere", but employs
21336-425: The newly forming Sun had only 70% of its current luminosity . By 3.5 Ga , Earth's magnetic field was established, which helped prevent the atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind . As the molten outer layer of Earth cooled it formed the first solid crust , which is thought to have been mafic in composition. The first continental crust , which was more felsic in composition, formed by
21504-520: The north of the Himalayas with rivers flowing down both the sides of the mountains. Some of the major river systems and their drainage system outdate the formation of the mountains itself. The water divide is formed by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges on the west and the Ladakh Range on the east, separating the Indus system from Central Asia. On the east, Kailas and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains separate
21672-656: The northwest, which extend into Central Asia . Its western anchor Nanga Parbat lies south of the northernmost bend of the Indus river in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and its eastern anchor Namcha Barwa lies to the west of the great eastern bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet Autonomous Region of China . The Himalayas occupies an area of 595,000 km (230,000 sq mi) across six countries – Afghanistan , Bhutan , China, India , Nepal , and Pakistan . The sovereignty of
21840-436: The number of glacial lakes , some of which may be prone to dangerous floods. The region is expected to encounter continued increase in average annual temperature and 81% of the region's permafrost is projected to be lost by the end of the century. The increased warming and melting of snow is projected to accelerate the regional river flows until 2060 after which it would decline due to reduction in ice caps and glacier mass. As
22008-403: The ocean below, the difference in pressure creates a thermal low . The moist air from the ocean is pushed inwards towards the low pressure system causing the monsoon winds. It results in precipitation along the slopes due to the orographic effect as the air rises along the mountains and condenses. The monsoon begins at the end of May in the eastern fringes of the range and moves upwards towards
22176-586: The ocean may have covered Earth completely. The world ocean is commonly divided into the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Antarctic or Southern Ocean , and Arctic Ocean, from largest to smallest. The ocean covers Earth's oceanic crust , with the shelf seas covering the shelves of the continental crust to a lesser extent. The oceanic crust forms large oceanic basins with features like abyssal plains , seamounts , submarine volcanoes , oceanic trenches , submarine canyons , oceanic plateaus , and
22344-648: The oceanic plates, with the Cocos Plate advancing at a rate of 75 mm/a (3.0 in/year) and the Pacific Plate moving 52–69 mm/a (2.0–2.7 in/year). At the other extreme, the slowest-moving plate is the South American Plate, progressing at a typical rate of 10.6 mm/a (0.42 in/year). Earth's interior, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is divided into layers by their chemical or physical ( rheological ) properties. The outer layer
22512-581: The orbit of maximum axial tilt toward or away from the Sun—and the equinoxes , when Earth's rotational axis is aligned with its orbital axis. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter solstice currently occurs around 21 December; summer solstice is near 21 June, spring equinox is around 20 March and autumnal equinox is about 22 or 23 September. In the Southern Hemisphere, the situation is reversed, with
22680-625: The ozone layer, life colonized Earth's surface. Among the earliest fossil evidence for life is microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone in Western Australia , biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks in Western Greenland , and remains of biotic material found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. The earliest direct evidence of life on Earth
22848-469: The partial melting of this mafic crust. The presence of grains of the mineral zircon of Hadean age in Eoarchean sedimentary rocks suggests that at least some felsic crust existed as early as 4.4 Ga , only 140 Ma after Earth's formation. There are two main models of how this initial small volume of continental crust evolved to reach its current abundance: (1) a relatively steady growth up to
23016-501: The past 66 Mys , and several million years ago, an African ape species gained the ability to stand upright. This facilitated tool use and encouraged communication that provided the nutrition and stimulation needed for a larger brain, which led to the evolution of humans . The development of agriculture , and then civilization , led to humans having an influence on Earth and the nature and quantity of other life forms that continues to this day. Earth's expected long-term future
23184-477: The past half a century. The average warm days and nights had also increased by 1.2 days and 1.7 nights per decade while the average cold days and nights had declined by 0.5 and 1 respectively. This has also prolonged the length of the growing season by 4.25 days per decade. The climate change might results in erratic rainfall, varying temperatures, and natural disasters like landslides , and floods . The increasing glacier melt had been followed by an increase in
23352-478: The planet's environment . Humanity's current impact on Earth's climate and biosphere is unsustainable , threatening the livelihood of humans and many other forms of life, and causing widespread extinctions . The Modern English word Earth developed, via Middle English , from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe . It has cognates in every Germanic language , and their ancestral root has been reconstructed as * erþō . In its earliest attestation,
23520-400: The planet. The water vapor acts as a greenhouse gas and, together with other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), creates the conditions for both liquid surface water and water vapor to persist via the capturing of energy from the Sun's light . This process maintains the current average surface temperature of 14.76 °C (58.57 °F), at which water
23688-421: The polar Northern and Southern hemispheres; or by longitude into the continental Eastern and Western hemispheres. Most of Earth's surface is ocean water: 70.8% or 361 million km (139 million sq mi). This vast pool of salty water is often called the world ocean , and makes Earth with its dynamic hydrosphere a water world or ocean world . Indeed, in Earth's early history
23856-587: The precipitation is projected to increase concurrently, the annual river flows would be largely unaffected for the Eastern Himalayan rivers fed by monsoons, but would reduce the flows in the Western Himalayan rivers. Almost a billion people live on either side of the mountain and are prone to impact of the climate change. This includes the people who live in the mountains, who are more vulnerable due to temperature variations and other biota. Countries in
24024-490: The present day, which is supported by the radiometric dating of continental crust globally and (2) an initial rapid growth in the volume of continental crust during the Archean , forming the bulk of the continental crust that now exists, which is supported by isotopic evidence from hafnium in zircons and neodymium in sedimentary rocks. The two models and the data that support them can be reconciled by large-scale recycling of
24192-462: The range in the Kashmir region is disputed amongst India, Pakistan, and China. The range varies in width from 350 km (220 mi) in the north-west to 150 km (93 mi) in the south-east. The range has several peaks exceeding an elevation of 8,000 m (26,000 ft) including Mount Everest , the highest mountain on Earth at 8,848 m (29,029 ft). The Himalayas consist of four parallel mountain ranges from south to north:
24360-493: The rates of mantle convection and plate tectonics, and allowing the production of uncommon igneous rocks such as komatiites that are rarely formed today. The mean heat loss from Earth is 87 mW m , for a global heat loss of 4.42 × 10 W . A portion of the core's thermal energy is transported toward the crust by mantle plumes , a form of convection consisting of upwellings of higher-temperature rock. These plumes can produce hotspots and flood basalts . More of
24528-1029: The region tropical and subtropical , temperate , coniferous , and grasslands . Tropical and subtropical broadleaf forests are mostly constricted to the high temperature and humid regions in Eastern and Central Himalayas , and pockets of Kashmir in the west. There are about 4,000 species of Angiosperms with major vegetation include Dipterocarpus , and Ceylon ironwood on porous soils at elevations below 2,400 m (7,900 ft) and oak , and Indian horse chestnut on lithosol between 1,100–1,700 m (3,600–5,600 ft). Himalayan subtropical pine forests with Himalayan screw pine trees occur above 4,000 m (13,000 ft) and Alder , and bamboo are found on terrains with higher gradient. Temperate forest occur at altitudes between 1,400–3,400 m (4,600–11,200 ft) while moving from south-east to north-west towards higher latitude. Eastern and Western Himalayan broadleaf forests consisting of sal trees dominate
24696-777: The region. More than 800 species of birds have been recorded with a large number of species restricted to the Eastern Himalayas. Amongst the bird species found include magpies such as black-rumped magpie and blue magpie , titmice , choughs , whistling thrushes , and redstarts . Raptors include bearded vulture , black-eared kite , and Himalayan griffon . Snow partridge and Cornish chough are found at altitudes above 5,700 m (18,700 ft). The Himalayan lakes also serve as breeding grounds for species such as black-necked crane and bar-headed goose . There are multiple species of reptiles including Japalura lizards, blind snakes , and insects such as butterflies . Several fresh water fish such as Glyptothorax are found in
24864-491: The region. As of 2022 , there are 575 protected areas established by the nations in the Himalayan-Hindu Kush region, which account for 40% of the land area and 8.5% of the global protected area. There are also four biodiversity hotspots , 12 ecoregions , 348 key biodiversity areas, and six UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the region. The Himalayan region with the associated Indo-Gangetic Plain and Tibetan plateau
25032-488: The same. The Himalayan region belongs to the Indomalayan realm . The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary broadly across regions depending on the climate and geology. The Himalayas are home to multiple biodiversity hotspots, and is home to an estimated 35,000+ species of plants and 200+ species of animals. An average of 35 new species have been found every year since 1998. There are four types of vegetation found in
25200-593: The same. This has led to increased awareness on the impact of climate change, and adaptations such as change in crop cycles , introduction of drought resistant crops, and plantation of new trees. This has also led to the construction of more dams , canals , and other water structures, to prevent flooding and aid in agriculture. New plantations on barren lands to prevent landslides, and construction of fire lines made of litter and mud to prevent forest fires have been undertaken. However, lack of funding, awareness, access to technology, and government policy are barriers for
25368-515: The shape of an ellipsoid , bulging at its Equator ; its diameter is 43 kilometres (27 mi) longer there than at its poles . Earth's shape also has local topographic variations; the largest local variations, like the Mariana Trench (10,925 metres or 35,843 feet below local sea level), shortens Earth's average radius by 0.17% and Mount Everest (8,848 metres or 29,029 feet above local sea level) lengthens it by 0.14%. Since Earth's surface
25536-413: The slopes and the plains below. The effect of Himalayas on the hydroclimate impacts millions in the plains as the variability in monsoon rainfall is the main factor behind wet and dry years. As the Himalayas force the monsoon winds to give up most of the moisture before ascending up, the winds became dry once its reaches the north of the mountains. This results in the dry and windy cold desert climate in
25704-447: The slopes based on seasons. Various ethnic people such as Ladakhi , Balti , and Dard live on the north of the Great Himalayas along the Indus basin in the Kashmir and Ladakh regions spread across India, Pakistan, and China. The Dard speak Dard , which is part of Indo-European languages, while the Balti and Lakadkhi people speak Balti , and Ladakhi , which are part of Tibeto-Burman. In
25872-417: The snow-melt of the glaciers. The lower altitude lakes are replenished by a combination of rains, underground springs, and streams. Large lakes in the Himalayan basin were formed in the holocene period, when water pooled in the faults and the water supply was subsequently cut off. There are more than 4500 high altitude lakes of which about 12 large lakes contribute to more than 75% of the total lake area in
26040-409: The source of various rivers of the Ganges - Brahmaputra river system. The high altitude regions are uninhabitable with few mountain passes inbetween that serve as crossovers with the human settlements in the lower valleys. The Assam Himalaya forms the eastern most sub-section that extends eastward for 720 km (450 mi) from the Indian state of Sikkim through Bhutan and north-east India past
26208-520: The summits of several peaks in the region such as Gangkhar Puensum , Machapuchare , and Kailash have been off-limits to climbers. The name of the range is derived from the Sanskrit word Himālay ( हिमालय ) meaning 'abode of snow'. It is a combination of the words him ( हिम ) meaning 'frost/cold' and ālay ( आलय ) meaning 'dwelling/house'. The name of the range is mentioned as Himavat ( Sanskrit : हिमवत्) in older literature such as
26376-569: The super-continent Gondwana broke up nearly 180 mya, the Indo-Australian plate slowly drifted northwards towards Eurasia for 130-140 million years. The Indian Plate broke up with the Australian Plate about 100 mya. The Tethys ocean constricted as the Indian plate moved gradually upward. As both the plates were made of continental crusts , which were less denser than oceanic crusts , the increased compressive forces resulted in folding of
26544-604: The trees. The Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows extend between 3,200–4,200 m (10,500–13,800 ft) and the Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows occur at altitudes of 3,600–4,500 m (11,800–14,800 ft). Major vegetation include Juniperus , Rhododendron on rocky terrain facing the Sun, various flowering plants at high elevations, and mosses , and lichens in humid, shaded areas. Interspersed Grasslands occur at certain regions, with thorns and semi-desert vegetation at low precipitation areas in
26712-574: The tropical zone to extend farther north in South Asia than anywhere else in the world. The temperatures are more pronounced in the Brahmaputra valley in the eastern section as it lies at a lower latitude and due to the latent heat of the forced air from the Bay of Bengal which condenses before moving past the Namcha Barwa , the eastern anchor of the Himalayas. Due to this, the permanent snow line
26880-539: The trough between the Himalayas and the Deccan plateau formed the Indo-Gangetic Plain . About 0.6 mya in the pleistocene period, the Himalayas rose higher and became the highest mountains on Earth. In the northern Great Himalayas , new gneiss and granite formations emerged on crystalline rocks that gave rise to the higher peaks. The summit of Mount Everest is made of unmetamorphosed marine ordovician limestone with fossil trilobites , crinoids , and ostracods from
27048-531: The underlying rock bed. The thrust faults created between the folds resulted in granite and basalt rocks from the Earth's mantle protruding through the crust . During the paleogene period (about 50 mya), the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate after it completely closed the Tethys ocean gap. The Indian plate continued to subduct under the Eurasian plate over the next 30 million years that resulted in
27216-456: The west in June and July. There is heavy precipitation in the east which reduces progressively towards the west as the air becomes drier. Cherrapunji in Eastern Himalayas is one of the wettest places on Earth with an annual precipitation of 428 in (10,900 mm). The average annual rainfall varies from 120 in (3,000 mm) in the Eastern Himalayas to about 120 in (3,000 mm) in
27384-456: The word eorðe was used to translate the many senses of Latin terra and Greek γῆ gē : the ground, its soil , dry land, the human world, the surface of the world (including the sea), and the globe itself. As with Roman Terra /Tellūs and Greek Gaia , Earth may have been a personified goddess in Germanic paganism : late Norse mythology included Jörð ("Earth"), a giantess often given as
27552-477: The world's tallest peaks, including Everest. It is mainly composed of granite rocks. The Tibetan Himalayas (also known as Tethys ) form the northern most sub-range of the Himalayas in Tibet . Longitudinally, the range is broadly divided into three regions– western , central , and eastern . The Western Himalayas form the westernmost section of the range and extend for about 560 km (350 mi) from
27720-598: The year. This causes the seasonal change in climate, with summer in the Northern Hemisphere occurring when the Tropic of Cancer is facing the Sun, and in the Southern Hemisphere when the Tropic of Capricorn faces the Sun. In each instance, winter occurs simultaneously in the opposite hemisphere. During the summer, the day lasts longer, and the Sun climbs higher in the sky. In winter, the climate becomes cooler and
27888-488: Was formed more than 10 mya due to the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate along the convergent boundary . Due to the continuous movement of the Indian plate, the Himalayas keep rising every year, making them geologically and seismically active. The mountains consist of large glaciers , which are remnants of the last ice age , and give rise to some of the world's major rivers such as
28056-466: Was mentioned as Himmaleh in western literature such as Emily Dickinson 's poetry and Henry David Thoreau 's essays. The Himalayas run as an arc for 2,400 km (1,500 mi) from west-northwest to east-southeast at the northern end of the Indian subcontinent , separating the Indo-Gangetic Plains from the Tibetan Plateau . It is bordered by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges on
28224-528: Was originally used to denote the 320 km (200 mi) stretch from Haridwar to the Beas River . The range is about 16 km (9.9 mi) wide on average and the elevation ranges from 900–1,200 m (3,000–3,900 ft). It rises along the Indo-Gangetic Plain and is often separated from the higher northern sub-ranges by valleys. The eastern portion of the range is called Churia Range in Nepal. The Lower or Lesser Himalaya (also known as Himachal )
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