CHAPTER SIX

Mountains and Lakes

The biggest mountain chain in the world is the Himalayas in Asia. It began when two pieces of Earth’s crust met and moved up. They began to move about 50 million years ago — and they are moving now, very slowly.

The top of Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the highest place on Earth — it’s about 9 kilometers above the ocean. Everest is very big and it’s getting bigger. The top of Everest goes up about 5 millimeters every year, because Earth’s crust is moving all the time.

Near high mountains, there are often deep lakes. The deepest lake in the world is Lake Baikal in Russia. It’s more than 1,600 meters deep. Scientists are exploring the lake in small submarines.

Lake Baikal began when pieces of Earth’s crust moved and made a deep hole. Water from 330 rivers goes into Lake Baikal. There’s more water here than in all the Great Lakes in North America!