Ancient Tethys Ocean Shaped Central Asia Before Himalayas

Scientists from the University of Adelaide found that a long-lost ocean called the Tethys Ocean helped shape the mountains in Central Asia a very long time ago.

This ocean was between big pieces of land called continental plates.

When these plates crashed into each other, the ocean disappeared, and the pressure from the crash made mountains.

This happened way before the Himalayas were formed.

The study shows that even though the ocean was far away, it still had a big effect on the land.

The mountains that formed back then looked like the ones in the western United States today.

The scientists also found that climate change and other processes didn't change the land much over the last 250 million years.

The old mountains from that time are the base of the mountains we see now.