The Matterhorn, in the Alps. (Credit: iStockphoto)From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Nov. 6, 2009) — The Alps are growing just as quickly in height as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result comes from a new study by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists.
Due to glaciers and rivers, about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the slopes of the Alps as is regenerated from the deep Earth's crust. The climatic cycles of the glacial period in Europe over the past 2.5 million years have accelerated this erosion process. In the latest volume of the science magazine Tectonophysics ( No. 474, S.236-249) the scientists show that today's uplifting of the Alps is driven by these strong climatic variations.
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