Uncovering the secrets of the Himalayas off the coast of Mumbai

Despite being thousands of kilometres apart, a team of international scientists are collecting samples from the bottom of the Arabian Sea to find out how the growth of the Himalayan mountain range has affected the Asian Monsoon over the last 50 million years. The drilling, taking place off the coast of Mumbai, India, will also help scientists predict monsoon intensity in the future. The Asian Monsoon is one of the most dramatic climactic phenomena on the planet today. Almost two-thirds of humanity live in countries influenced by the Monsoon, with the strength and variability of its annual rains crucial to their prosperity. Summer heating of the Himalaya - and the Tibetan Plateau behind the mountains - generates low-pressure and summer rains in South and East Asia. In winter a reversed high-pressure system is established, with dry, cold winds blowing out of the continent. It is thought that the modern Monsoon reflects the fact that the Himalayas is the largest mountain chain seen on Earth for more than 500 million years.