Scientists have discovered the reasons behind the lifespan
of some of the world’s iconic mountain ranges.
The study conducted by the University of Melbourne,
Australia, and Aarhus University, Denmark, has revealed that interactions
between landslides and erosion, caused by rivers, explains why some mountain
ranges exceed their expected lifespan.
Co-author Professor Mike Sandiford of the School of Earth
Sciences at the University of Melbourne said the study had answered the
quandary as to why there was fast erosion in active mountain ranges in the
Himalayas and slow erosion in others such as the Great Dividing Range in
Australia or the Urals in Russia.