[Rockhounds] Mount Everest Is Getting Taller

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Mount Everest is nearly 1,000 feet (304 meters) taller than its surrounding
Himalayan peaks, causing scientists to wonder exactly why the giant
mountain stretched its neck out so much more than its neighbors. Now, a
team thinks they have an answer: The mountain isn’t piling on more stones;
rather, the land around it is eroding, pushing the mountain upwards.

As a result, Mount Everest—also known as Chomolungma or Sagarmāthā—is
growing by up to .08 inches (2mm) per year, according to a study published
<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01535-w> earlier this week in
Nature Geoscience. Furthermore, over the past 89,000 years the 29,032-foot
(8,849m) peak sprouted between 50 feet (15m) and 164 feet (50m).

The three tallest peaks besides Everest—K2, Kangchenjunga, and Lhotse—are
all around the same height, about 1,000 feet (305m) shorter than the
world’s tallest mountain.

“Mount Everest is a remarkable mountain of myth and legend and it’s still
growing,” said Adam Smith, a researcher at University College London and
co-author of the study, in a university release
<https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2024/sep/river-pushing-mount-everests-peak>.
“Our research shows that as the nearby river system cuts deeper, the loss
of material is causing the mountain to spring further upwards.”

https://gizmodo.com/mount-everest-is-getting-taller-2000505784