Miscellaneous News

The Gamburtsev Mountains

May 17 , 2025 13 hrs 0 min 54 0

The Gamburtsev Mountains are similar in scale and shape to the European Alps.
They are buried beneath the highest point of the East Antarctica ice sheet.
Plate tectonic models suggest the crust now forming East Antarctica came from at least two large continents more than 700 million years ago.
As per the zircon grains analysis, the Gamburtsev Mountains began to rise around 650 million years ago, reached Himalayan heights by 580 million years ago.
Then it experienced deep crustal melting and flow that ended around 500 million years ago.
Zircons are often called “time capsules” because they contain minuscule amounts of uranium in their crystal structure.
The uranium decays at a known rate and allows scientists to determine their age with great precision.