Earth observations of the Himalayan Mountains taken during STS-99

STS099-735-046 (11-22 February 2000) ---Mt. Everest (29,028 feet or 8,848 meters), is featured in the center of this 70mm frame photographed by one of the STS-99 crew members. Everest, also called Qomolangma Feng, is just north of the border between Nepal and China. The Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau are products of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. With the continuing northward march of India, the crust of the Earth has become thicker and the Tibetan Plateau has been uplifted to an average elevation of about 15,000 feet. According to NASA scientists studying the STS-99 imagery, fossil-bearing limestones are at the summit of the mountain. The scientists say that these limestones were deposited beneath the sea around 510 million years ago (Cambrian to Ordovician time). Glaciers, moraines, and outwash plains are spectacularly displayed. Glacial meltwaters in this area feed the Arun River, eventually reaching the Ganges on the plains of India.