Thanks colorado tanker. IOW, they also don't know. :')
|
Posted on 03/16/2016 12:21:20 PM PDT by JimSEA
Geologists from the University of Sydney and the California Institute of Technology have solved the mystery of how Australia's highest mountain -- Mount Kosciuszko -- and surrounding Alps came to exist.
Most of the world's mountain belts are the result of two continents colliding (e.g. the Himalayas) or volcanism. The mountains of Australia's Eastern highlands -- stretching from north-eastern Queensland to western Victoria -- are an exception. Until now no one knew how they formed.
A research team spearheaded by Professor Dietmar Müller from the University's School of Geosciences used high performance computing code to investigate the cause of the uplift which created the mountain range. The team found the answer in the mountains' unusually strong gravity field.
"The gravity field led us to suspect the region might be pushed up from below so we started looking at the underlying mantle: the layer of rock between the Earth's core and its crust," said Professor Müller.
The team found the mantle under Australia's east coast has been uplifted twice.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Of course, the Applalachians had their day as higher than today’s Himalayas. Erosion - wasting levels them all down and not all orogens are the same to begin with.
I can’t wait to go back to Australia for vacation. Best trip I ever took. And I’ve been all over the place.
Thanks colorado tanker. IOW, they also don't know. :')
|
Yup! Uplift and seduction!
Thanks - took a while ...
It’s largely a function of age with eroded Australia being pretty flat with some of the oldest rocks in the world and New Zealand being one of the newest land masses. Every thing gets flat with age. Eventually the Grand Tetons will be flat and saggy.
We watched Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, a delightful series set in interwar Melbourne. One of the episodes takes place at an Australian ski area. I didn’t even know Australia had ski resorts!
This article is wrong on one point. The Great Dividing Range, as we Aussies call it, extends from FNQ (far north Queensland in Cape York) down to ‘eastern’ Victoria not western Victoria.
Kansas? Into Thick Air!
Alfred Wegener was just a kook who wore a tinfoil hat.
I drove through that area a few years ago; it was spectacular.
:’)
A giant gopher created it.
#7 You talking about women?....... : )
I'm always talking about women.
Even when I'm not talking about women, inevitably, inescapably, I'm always talking about women.
And so are you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
