I was under the impression that the water cycle was the main reason mountains eroded. Even if it’s constantly frozen, it at least is much faster in carrying down the highest parts of the mountain than just wind.
thanks everyone. Very helpful explanations.
I was wondering whether the lack of oxygen at that elevation would have any impact on erosion of the rock? Oxidation being less and all that… But of course the rock is covered by ice in most cases, so probably not in much contact with the air.
Another thing that just struck me is whether it means anything that the ‘death zone’ for humans coincides with the limit to mountain elevation. Perhaps as humans evolved there was no need for their bodies to survive on less oxygen than is available at 8,000 meters, since they couldn’t go higher than that anyway?
Just a few idle thoughts…
The death zone boundary is a bit fuzzier than the name suggests:
As adaptable as human beings are, I think we evolved that adapatibility before we started exploring very high altitudes. At those sorts of altitudes, there’s not much in the way of food (or anything else) to be had, so any kind of settlement requires a modern supply chain, something that wouldn’t have existed thousands of years ago. FWIW, the highest permanent settlement is only at 16,700 feet. People currently living at high elevations do exhibit physiological adaptations, but it’s unclear whether these are due to nature (i.e. evolution) or nurture (i.e. exposure to high elevation from the moment of conception).
Recent report says that Tibetans got one gene that adapts them to high altitudes from interbreeding with Denisovans.
Someone brought this report up in a conversation over dinner last night. I wonder if there’s any similar pattern in Peruvians with similar genetic adaptations.