How do we know?
↻ One of the pages with a moving picture
Magnetic clues in old rocks show where India traveled.
- Two giant plates carrying continents push into each other.
- Neither can sink under the other, so the rock is shoved up.
- Rock layers crumple and fold, like a pushed-up blanket.
- Over millions of years, the rock rises into high peaks.
Magnetic clues in old rocks show that India traveled over 3,700 miles north. It hit Asia 40 to 50 million years ago, and the Himalayas began to rise.
North of Lhasa, China, rocks up high hold fossils from an old sea. That sea’s floor was pushed up into mountains.
The pushing has not stopped: the Himalayas are still rising.
Wow number
29,032 feet is how tall Mount Everest is. That is like about 4,800 grown-ups standing on each other’s heads!
Myth or fact?
The higher you climb a mountain, the warmer the air gets. Myth. Air usually gets colder as you climb.
Earth’s longest mountain range is under the ocean. Fact. The mid-ocean ridge wraps Earth like a baseball seam.
Think about it
Mountains rise slowly. What could wear them down again?
Where in the world?
Mount Everest, Nepal and China where the Himalayas are still rising. North of Lhasa, China, rocks up high hold fossils from an old sea — 27.9881° N, 86.925° E.
Where these facts come from
Every number on page 22, and who measured it
This page tells us how fast the Himalayas are still growing.
Mountains: a scientist’s guide to the tallest peaks on Earth and beyond — BBC Science Focus, a science magazine
sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/mountains
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page explains how India crashing into Asia made the Himalayas.
The Himalayas [This Dynamic Earth, USGS] — The U.S. Geological Survey, the government's Earth scientists
pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/himalaya.html
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us Mount Everest's newest height.
Mount Everest is more than two feet taller, China and Nepal announce — National Geographic, a science and exploring magazine
nationalgeographic.com/science/article/new-height-of-mount-everest-announced-by-china-and-nepal
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us air usually gets colder as you go higher.
Change in the Atmosphere with Altitude — UCAR, a group of U.S. universities that study the air and weather
scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/atmosphere/change-atmosphere-altitude
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page answers why mountaintops are cold even though they're closer to the Sun.
Why is it cold in the mountains if heat rises and it is closer to the sun? — Ask Dr. Universe, a science-answers site from Washington State University
askdruniverse.wsu.edu/2017/12/21/cold-mountains-heat-rises-closer-sun
We checked it on 31 October 2026
This page tells us the longest mountain range is under the ocean.
What is the longest mountain range on earth? — NOAA's Ocean Service, U.S. ocean scientists
oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/midoceanridge.html
We checked it on 31 October 2026
Has this changed?
Mountains slowly grow and slowly wear down. People have measured Mount Everest again and announced a new height, so the number on the page may change.
How mountains are made is not going to change.
Words from this page
- plates
- The giant pieces that Earth’s outer skin is cracked into.
- continent
- One of Earth’s huge areas of land, like Asia or North America.
Try it!
Push a towel and see mountains pop up.
1. Lay a towel flat on a table. 2. Put your hands on both ends and slowly push them together. 3. Watch the middle. Where do folds pop up?
Why: squeezed from both sides, the towel can only go up, like rock between two plates.
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