Sunday, September 6, 2015




The Tibetan Plateau supposedly rose as the Indian continent smashed into Eurasia about 50 million years ago. But the latest study of fossils and oxygen isotopes in the region's rocks shows that parts of southern Tibet were already as tall as they are today before the collision.
The findings challenge the conventional wisdom of what happens when continents collide, and because of the role of mountains in weather systems, also imply that the Asian monsoons could have been going on for much longer than previously assumed.
The Tibetan Plateau covers an area about one-quarter as large as the United States, with an average elevation of 5,000 metres. To the south, it is ringed by the Himalayas, which include the highest peaks in the world. How and when such a gigantic region rose up has been a matter of intense debate for decades.
To get a glimpse of topography of ancient Tibet, a team led by Ding Lin, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research in Beijing, analysed 55-million-year-old rocks from the Linzhou Basin, about 50 kilometres northeast of Lhasa in Tibet.
The team measured the isotopes of oxygen from ancient rain and snow that would have been preserved in the rock. “As clouds climb up a mountain slope, water vapour with the heavier oxygen isotope, oxygen-18, rains out first,” says Ding. The higher the elevation, the less oxygen-18 precipitates, whereas the opposite holds for oxygen-16. Thus, the ratio of the two isotopes is a measure of elevation.












Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, takes on an ethereal quality in the light of a streetlamp, emanating deep hues of jade and emerald. “It reminds me of somewhere magical out of a fairy-tale story, a small piece of tranquility in the middle of a bustling city,” writes Luke Aveil, a contributor to Your Shot. Named after Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, the gardens receive over two million visitors each year.
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Pico Bolívar is the highest mountain in Venezuela, at 4,978 metres. Located in Mérida State, its top is permanently covered with névé snow and three small glaciers
















The town of St. Magdalena, Italy, sits at the base of the Dolomite mountain range, with an amazingly beautiful view during the afternoon hours











The snow-mantled rock face of the colossal Mont Blanc Massif, located between France and Italy, dwarfs a pale twilight moonrise in the background. At 15,771 feet (4,807 meters), Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps and a frequent point of contention between the two countries. Each alternately claims it as its own.















Sunny rays penetrate the canopy of an Indonesian rain forest on Nias Island. Rain forests are among the Earth’s most biologically diverse habitats. Their fauna and flora are precious for their own sake but can also aid humans. Rain forest plants, for example, produce chemicals to combat insects and disease that have led to the development of many beneficial drugs. But rain forests around the world are being deforested at alarming rates—even as many of their species and secrets remain unknown to humans.












Overcast skies and mossy peaks overlook a lone hiker on Scotland's Ben Nevis mountain trail. Made up of ancient schist plated with volcanic rock, Ben Nevis is the highest mountain of the British Isles, at 4,406 feet (1,343 meters)














Fog obscures the summit of Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu, a 13,455-foot (4,101-meter) peak in northwestern East Malaysia. Formerly known as St. Peter's Mount, Kinabalu is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago.












       One of dozens of lakes on the island, Lake McKenzie shimmers in the starlight. During the day the lake's sugar white beach and windowpane water attract hundreds of visitors. Like the painters and poets who celebrated  Fraser's otherworldly allure, they return home with stories and images of soul-stirring beauty.









A solitary person walking across a forest in the Highlands, Scotland












A rising sun illuminates the snow-shrouded peak of Mount Everest. Everest's summit, at 29,035 feet (8,850 meters), is the highest point on Earth. Thirty of the world's highest mountains are in the Himalaya range.














Western Norway’s fjords—like Nærøyfjorden, northeast of Bergen and a UNESCO World Heritage site—look like fingers of the sea intruding into the land. But they are also receptacles for fresh water pouring off the peaks and ridges that surround them.
















Amazing light before a summer storm in the Peak District
















The azure waters of Chandra Tal—Lake of the Moon—in Himachal Pradesh, India, reflect the vivid hues of a bright Himalayan day.