News Earth

A rapid rise for the Andes

New evidence points to a sudden and dramatic growth spurt for the South American mountain chain

By Sid Perkins

- More than 2 years ago

South America’s Andes reached their staggering heights after a sudden growth spurt millions of years ago, not gradually as many studies have proposed, new evidence suggests.

QUICK-RISE ROCKS Geochemical analyses of 29-million-year-old sedimentary rocks in eastern Bolivia, now sitting at an elevation of 3,600 meters, were initially deposited at an elevation below 500 meters.