Sip back as we discover Nepal and explore the geodiversity and fossils of Mount Everest the highest mountain peak in the world standing at 8,849 meters above sea level in the Himalayan Mountains. This range of mountains is in fact three parallel ranges of the Greater Himalayas, the Lesser Himalayas, and the Outer Himalayas. Formed over 50 million years ago by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates the Himalayas stretches for over 2,500Km from west to east between China and India in Asia. Remarkably the marine fossils of trilobites, ostracods and crinoids are found on the summit of Mount Everest in the limestone and dolomite of the Qomolangma Formation. These fossils tell a story of the mountain’s origins as a former Ordovician Period seabed rich in benthic marine life in the shallow warm Tethys Ocean. This was a time when the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event occurred where an unprecedented increase in the evolution and diversity of organisms in the marine biosphere was fuelled by increased nutrient availability, tectonic activity, a stable climate, and the expansion of ecological niches in the marine environment. However, this is a fossil site that not many people will ever visit or research as it is in the death zone above 8,000 meters.
Nepal is on many travellers’ bucket list and offers an ancient culture, history and outstanding natural beauty nestled in the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. For some adventurers the highlight is to take on the experience of an organised trek for up to two weeks to Everest Base Camp.
Though the journey will surely start with a short flight from Manthali airport in Ramechhap or Kathmandu and a bump as you land at Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla one of the world's most extreme airports with a very short runway located at 2,800 meters on a tiny outcrop on the side of a cliff.
Welcome to the gateway of Everest!
From here the route to Everest Base Camp will give you the opportunity to acclimatise and give your body adequate time to adjust to altitude where there is almost 50% less oxygen getting to your muscles. The route navigates a stunningly rugged mountain trail through traditional Sherpa villages and ancient monasteries with the backdrop of Everest and the neighbouring peaks of Lhotse (8,516m), Nuptse (7,861m), Changtse (7,560m), and Khumbutse (6,636m).
This trail will also pass through the Sagarmatha National Park a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its exceptional mountains landscape and home to unique plants and wildlife such as Himalayan Thars (Hemitragus jemlahicus) and the endangered and vulnerable to extinction Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Nepal's National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act.
Mount Everest was renamed from Peak XV in 1865 by the Royal Geographic Society in recognition of Welshman Sir George Everest and his work as Surveyor General of India for completing a trigonometric survey map of India.
Spiritually known as Qomolangma (pronounced “CHOH-moh-LUHNG-m?”) by the Tibetans meaning “Mother Goddess of the World” and “Sagarmatha” by the Nepalese. Mount Everest was first climbed in 1953 by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tibetan guide Tenzing Norgay.
Climbing Mount Everest has become a popular expedition for mountain climbers from around the world who flock to the region during the preferred short Spring climbing season between March – May when the weather patterns are generally more stable, skies are clearer and wind speeds are lower.
The increase in the popularity of climbing Mount Everest has not only created issues of pollution from discarded waste and equipment there has also been a dramatic increase in the number deaths on the mountain.
It is not unheard of for groups of climbers to spend too much time queuing in so-called traffic jams of climbers in the “death zone” at an altitude above 8,000 meters. At this altitude the oxygen levels drop critically low to below a third of what is available at sea level making human survival incredibly challenging unsupported with a supply of oxygen.
In this extreme environment the body begins to deteriorate and climbers face risks such as frostbite, cerebral edema as the brain swells and pulmonary edema where the lungs fill with fluid. Mental clarity also diminishes and leads to poor decision-making. Even with supplemental oxygen physical movement is still slow and exhausting and unfortunately many climbers have succumbed to the elements and many bodies remain on Mount Everest due to high risks and costs involved in their recovery.
Mount Everest is composed of three main geological formations all stacked in a sequence from its base to the summit separated by low-angle faults. The Rongbuk Formation is found on the lower slopes at the base of Mount Everest and consists primarily of metamorphic rocks such as granite, schist and gneiss. They were formed under the intense heat and pressure deep within the Earth’s crust prior to the mountain building of the Himalayan orogeny.
Above the Rongbuk Formation lies the North Col Formation another layer of metamorphic rock of quartzite, phyllite and interbedded schist and forms part of the core of the mountain. Above the North Col Formation is the Lhotse Detachment a fault that separates the underlying metamorphic formations from the younger sedimentary layers of firstly the Yellow Band on the mountain's upper slopes made up of marble, phyllite and quartz.
The Yellow Band on Mount Everest is a prominent feature with a breccia or rubble zone of non-metamorphosed fractured Ordovician limestone. The distinct yellowish-brown colour of the rock comes from weathering and iron-rich minerals and marks the transition to the summit pyramid and the Qomolangma detachment.
The summit pyramid of Mount Everest is composed of relatively unmetamorphosed fine-grained limestone and dolomite of the Qomolangma Formation. It is here where the marine fossils of Trilobites, Brachiopods, Crinoids or “sea lilies” and Stromatolites can be found.