A much older mountain system existed before the formation of the world's highest and most spectacular mountains - the Himalayas, geoscientists have discovered. Scientists have found rocks showing that the Himalayas are predated by ancestral mountains, existing in the same area 500 million years ago, long before the Indian subcontinent collided with Asia some 55 million years ago.

The team of scientists, including two Nepalis, has published its research in the September issue of GSA today, a respected scientific journal of the Geological Society of America. "The research concludes that the modern Himalaya Mountains are built on the foundations of an ancient mountain range that may have been of similar dimensions," said Professor Bishal Upreti of the Geology Department and Tri-Chandra College. Prof Upreti is a part of the team of scientists including University of Arizona (UA) graduate Tank Ojha, UA professor George Gehrels and UA professor Peter De Celles.

The team has collaborated in field expeditions in the rugged areas of Nepal for the past several years. The findings of the team, not only revise ideas on the region's geological history, but also offer new insight on the formation of the Himalayan Mountains and the activity before the period. The study of the rocks was done with state-of-the-art radioisotope techniques to find out the exact dates of the minerals, said Upreti. "The observations show that, between 450 and 500 million years ago, rocks in the Himalaya were pushed down to great depth and metamorphosed," Upreti said. The buried rocks became so hot under great pressure that they melted, producing large granite bodies.

These deep-level rocks were brought back to the surface and formed mountains. Considering the earth is around two billion years old, the formation of this mountain was quite early in the history of the earth, he added. However, about 450 million years ago, as the forces of mountain building waned, erosion levelled the earth. Subsequently, the ancestral Himalaya Mountains disappeared and the region eventually submerged below the sea level, Upreti said. "The region remained buried below marine sediments until the Indian subcontinent collided with southern Asia around 55 million years ago and the modern Himalaya Mountains began to form," he added.

Their main area of research, was the Annapurna range of Nepal. However, Upreti adds that although this concept is not new, this is the first time concrete studies have been done on the theory. The findings of the rocks support the theories of geoscientists in the 1980s. Upreti said that more research is also needed to fully understand the two-phases of mountain building. "It is an outstanding theory and opens exciting doors to the study of this region," he added.

OTHER NEWS

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• French installed incinerator in Sindhupalchowk: Liping bazaar in Sindhupalchowk is emerging as a business hub with the Tibetan region of China. With its transformation into a major business hub in the recent years, solid waste management is emerging as a challenge to this nature-bedecked small bazaar, some 114 kilometers north of the capital, overlooking the snow-fed Bhote Koshi river. With growing business activities and many tourists using it as the entry and exit point of Nepal, the place is losing its beauty to solid waste. Plastic, empty mineral water and beer bottles and cans and household and hotel waste can be seen littered everywhere, resulting in pollution of the waters of the Bhote Koshi River that meanders from Tibet down to Nepal. An estimated 500 to 700 kgs per day of solid waste produced by nearly one hundred households, a dozen hotels and the Tatopani Customs Office has been dumped on the bank of the Bhote Koshi River overlooking the bazaar.
  
  
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• NRNs emphasise on tourism dev: World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has estimated that Nepal's travel and tourism sector will generate Rs 55.5 billion during 2003. Lalit Bikram Shah, Regional Director at International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Bangkok revealed this at a programme here recently. Speaking at the tourism session of the first NRN conference being held in the capital, Shah, who is the former Director General of Department of Civil Aviation said, "If Nepal can make effective use of tourism receipts, the sector will generate more than 630,000 employment opportunities." The WTTC has projected that 263,599 jobs would be created during 2003. This number of jobs will make 2.6 percent of total employment of the country. To make the statistics a true story, peace and a stable government is essential, Shah said.
  
  
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