Question

“The plateau is pockmarked with salt flats and brackish lakes, vestiges of the Tethys Ocean which bordered Tibet before the continental collision that lifted it skyward.”

Given below is an extract from an account of the Tethys Ocean downloaded from the Internet. Go online, key in Tethys Ocean in Google search and you will find exhaustive information on this geological event. You can also consult an encyclopedia.

Today, India, Indonesia and the Indian Ocean cover the area once occupied by the Tethys Ocean. Turkey, Iraq, and Tibet sit on the land once known as Cimmeria. Most of the floor of the Tethys Ocean disappeared under Cimmeria and Laurasia. We only know that Tethys existed because geologists like Suess have found fossils of ocean creatures in rocks in the Himalayas. So, we know those rocks were underwater, before the Indian continental shelf began pushing upward as it smashed into Cimmeria. We can see similar geologic evidence in Europe, where the movement of Africa raised the Alps.

Answer 1

The Tethys Ocean was an ancient sea that once lay between the northern landmass of Laurasia and the southern landmass of Gondwana.

Over millions of years, the Indian tectonic plate moved northwards and collided with the Eurasian plate. This collision caused the land to rise and led to the formation of the Himalayas. Fossils of marine animals found in Himalayan rocks provide evidence that these rocks were once part of the floor of the Tethys Ocean.

The same kind of geological process also contributed to the formation of mountain ranges such as the Alps in Europe.