Dhaulagiri

Long ago, India began pushing into the land to its north.

This pushing lifts the Himalayas up. They are still rising!

NASA explains that the Himalayas formed as India collided with Eurasia, a collision that began about 70 million years ago and still continues. Because of it, the Himalayas are still rising by several millimeters each year.

Geologists say the Kali Gandaki valley beside Dhaulagiri shows, in its northern part, an almost continuous layer of sedimentary rock about 10 kilometers thick, called the Tethyan Sedimentary Sequence.

Uplift of the Himalayas continues today at several millimeters per year, in response to the continuing collision of India with Eurasia that began about 70 million years ago (NASA).

Carosi and colleagues (2014) describe the Kali Gandaki section beside Dhaulagiri as cutting across the Himalaya's major tectonic units: the Lesser Himalayan Sequence in the south, the high-grade metamorphic core of the Greater Himalayan Sequence, and the almost continuous, 10 km-thick Tethyan Sedimentary Sequence in the north.

A river runs in a very deep valley next to Dhaulagiri.

Geologists call it the deepest gorge on Earth.

The Kali Gandaki River cuts a gorge more than 6,000 meters deep between some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas: Dhaulagiri to the west and Nilgiri (7,003 meters) and Annapurna (8,091 meters) to the east. Geologists call it the deepest gorge in the world.

The gorge runs north to south across the mountains, so its walls show many different kinds of rock, one after another.

In the Mustang-Myagdi region of central Nepal, the Kali Gandaki river cuts a gorge more than 6,000 m deep between Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) to the west and Nilgiri (7,003 m) and Annapurna (8,091 m) to the east; Carosi et al. (2014) call it the deepest gorge in the world.

Its north-south trend runs almost perpendicular to the regional strike, so the valley offers a cross section through the continental crust of the Himalayan mountain belt, including major shear zones such as the Main Central Thrust and the South Tibetan Detachment.

Snow leopards and blue sheep live in these mountains.

Many rare plants grow here too.

NASA says the region is home to hundreds of species of rare plants and animals, including the snow leopard and the blue sheep, also called Tibetan sheep.

Many people here work in farming, tourism and supporting mountain expeditions. Dhaulagiri is an important destination for trekkers and climbers, and about half of each year's visitors come in autumn, when the days are clear and dry.

The region is home to hundreds of species of rare plants and animals, including the snow leopard and blue or Tibetan sheep (NASA).

Dhaulagiri is a significant destination for trekkers and climbers: the clear, dry days of autumn bring about half the yearly total of visitors. Expedition support, tourism and agriculture employ much of the population (NASA, 2001).

People can get sick high up on mountains, so go up slowly.

If your head hurts high up, tell a grown-up and go down.

Dhaulagiri rises to 8,167 meters. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the body can adjust to thin air up to about 5,200 meters, but it needs time, and children get altitude sickness as easily as adults. Its main sign is a headache.

The CDC says to go up slowly and avoid going "too high too fast". Altitude sickness gets better quickly by going down 300 meters or more.

The CDC Yellow Book notes that the body can adjust to moderate hypoxia up to about 5,200 m but needs time, and children are as susceptible to altitude illness as adults; headache is the main symptom of acute mountain sickness.

Travelers should ascend gradually, avoiding going "too high too fast"; above 3,000 m, sleeping altitude should rise by no more than 500 m a day. Acute mountain sickness improves rapidly with a descent of 300 m or more.