Everest wasn’t always a mountain! These 200 million-year-old marine fossils prove the Himalaya was once underwater
Times of India
by TOI WORLD DESKFebruary 20, 2026
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Mount Everest, standing at over 8,848 meters, is home to a surprising discovery: marine fossils that reveal the mountain's ancient underwater past. These fossils, including trilobites, crinoids, and brachiopods, are embedded in sedimentary rock formed millions of years ago when the region was beneath the Tethys Ocean. This ocean once separated the Indian landmass from Asia, and as the Indian plate drifted northward, it collided with the Eurasian plate around 50 to 40 million years ago. This collision led to the uplift of the Himalayas, pushing the ancient marine sediments to extreme altitudes.
The fossils found on Everest are remnants of marine life that thrived in the Tethys Ocean about 225 million years ago. As the ocean basin closed due to tectonic activity, its floor was lifted and transformed into land. The process involved subduction, where the oceanic crust was pushed beneath the Eurasian margin, while thick sediment layers were scraped off and incorporated into the rising mountain range. This geological transformation reshaped the region, with the Himalayas continuing to rise by about
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Originally published on Times of India on 2/20/2026