Environments and People - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 26

Chapter 2

Environments and People

“Those who would take over the
earth/ And shape it to their will/
Never,I noticesucceed. ”

T AO T E C HING ( CA 3000 BC )

Major TopographicalFeatures

Although cut by numerous passes, the Himalayan
ranges have posed a formidable barrier between Indian
and Chinese realms, thereby demarcating racial, linguis-
tic, and other cultural differences. The mountains them-
selves form a region of cultural convergence where
lifeways and belief systems blend in splendid landscapes
(Figure 2-3).
The history of the Himalayas began 200 million years
ago with the process of continental driftwhen the land-
mass known as Pangaea broke into pieces. At that time,
Gondwanaland (Africa) and what we know now as India
proceeded toward another, larger landmass called
Laurasia .When the collision occurred 45 million years
ago, mountains emerged in a colossal upheaval. The
T ethys Sea vanished, consumed in the process. When
trekking near the Tibetan border, I was delighted to find
two ammonites flat, spiral fossil shells, evidence of life in
the ancient watery world of the T Tethys Sea.
The Himalayan ranges are a product of plate tectonics .
The theory of plate tectonics postulates that the upper por-
tion of the lithosphere (the outer part of the solid earth
composed of rock) comprises a patchwork of rigid plates.
These are rooted in the underlying, more plastic upper
layer of the Earth' s mantle. Movement along the fracture
zones between the plates is responsible for a legion of topo-
graphic features and seismic phenomena.
Where plates diverge or move apart, molten material
from the Earth' s core wells up into the space. Where
plates converge or come together, spectacular moun-
tains, pyroclastic events, and deep ocean trenches
appear.

South, East, and Southeast Asia exhibit a grand and
complex display of mountains, plateaus, drainage
basins, and river valleys (Figure 2-1). All of these have
been modified and have influenced people' s actions and
interactions since the beginning of human time.
The foundation for Asia' s topography(landforms)
is an extensive zone of ancient rocks that, in early geo-
logic time, were folded, faulted, and intruded on
countless occasions. Ongoing hydrological(water) and
aeolian(wind) erosionand depositionhave combined
to generate Asia' s physical geography as we know it today
(Figure 2-2). Unlike North America and Europe, Asia
was not covered with massive ice sheets, with the exception
of high mountain systems such as the Himalayas. In fact,
glaciatio continues to play a critical role in sculpting
mountainous regions.
The most imposing topographic features are the
Himalayan ranges and adjacent Tibetan Plateau. The
Greater or highest Himalayas extend 1,500 miles
(2,415 km) from west to east with an impressive num-
ber of the world' s highest peaks (check your atlas for
locations). No fewer than 15 peaks top 25,000 feet
(7,000 m). Annapurna at 26,535 feet (8,090 m),
Dhaulagiri at 26,689 feet (8,137 m), Kanchenjunga at
28,208 feet (8,598 m), and Everest ( Qomolangma ) the
highest at 29,028 feet (8,848 m) are the best known
mountains. Imagine a fractured rock wall around 4 miles
(6 km) high and 200 miles (322 km) across. This is the
majesty of the Himalayas.

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