Welcome to BYJU’S ‘What If?’ where you, the students, get to ask us your questions. It can be anything in the whole wide world but there’s just one condition: it should start with ‘What if?’ We’ll pick the most intriguing questions and feature them along with an illustrated explanation on The Learning Tree blog.
To ask your question, fill-up the form here:
Submit your ‘What If?’ question
The latest question of the What If? series comes to us from Anishka, from Bangalore, who asks:
What If Mountains Just Stopped Existing?
Mountains are one of the most magnificent natural formations on Earth. They have been an inspiration to many poets, explorers, adventurers and thrill-seekers. When you ask a child to draw a scenic location, two mountains will inevitably feature in the final result!
Mountains feature prominently in our language too. To ‘move mountains’ is a commonly-used phrase that means ‘to perform a great and challenging task’. In another case, when the urge for a vacation is too great, one may say that ‘the mountains are calling.’
So what would happen if all the mountains on Earth just stopped existing?
One thing is for sure – if the mountains vanish, that also means goodbye to skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and most of the other sports that feature in the Winter Olympic Games every four years. No more snowball fights or ‘hill station getaways’ too (for what are hills if not for tiny mountains)!
But there are much bigger consequences to consider here. Mountains are formed by the movement of tectonic plates. These are like giant pieces of a jigsaw that cover the entire crust – the uppermost part of the Earth’s surface. The movement of these tectonic plates usually happens slowly over thousands of years. When these plates collide with each other the crust rises up as mountains at the point of contact. How do earthquakes happen? One of the ways by which earthquake occurs is by the sudden movements and contact between tectonic plates.
Mountains are obviously really heavy! That huge amount of mass is what presses down onto the layer below the Earth’s crust, called the mantle. The mantle is made up of really hot molten lava called magma. When there are volcanic eruptions, what is essentially happening is that the magma from the mantle is rising up through the crust and spilling onto the surface. If the mountains were to suddenly vanish, all that mass holding back the pressure of the mantle would be gone and there would be a continuous barrage of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes all over the world.
All this would obviously render the entire planet completely uninhabitable. Mountains, like rainforests and deserts, have an important role in maintaining the fragile ecological balance of the planet. According to a 2014 study published in the journal Nature, without mountains, Earth would be as cold and uninhabitable as Mars.
The study also talks about the role of young fold mountains like the Himalayas and the Andes in pushing essential minerals from the mantle to the upper surface. Calcium is a part of these minerals, which reacts with carbon dioxide to form limestone. This limestone is eroded by wind, rain and snow and reaches the oceans. This process, the researchers say, was essential in sucking out all the excess carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere several million years ago, without which we would never have a suitable atmosphere for life to thrive.
The interesting thing is that there was a time when mountains nearly disappeared. Around 0.8 billion to 1 billion years ago, the Earth’s mountains stopped growing. Meanwhile, erosion turned these once-mighty formations into tiny bumps. According to a recent study published in the journal Science, this period had a significant impact on the evolution of simple, multi-cellular organisms in the oceans. In fact, the development of life was so incredibly slow during this time that geologists call it “the boring billion” years! Without mountains, we could very well be cast into the second boring billion era of Earth’s existence!
All said and done, the disappearance of mountains would simply be catastrophic for not just humans, but all life on the planet. Of course, this is all speculative and there’s no way for the mountains to suddenly vanish one fine day. But that doesn’t stop us from wondering, does it?
Enjoyed reading this? Check out the previous editions of What If?:
What If? #6 – What if the Sahara Desert was covered with Solar Panels?
Do you want to ask your own ‘What If?’ question? Fill the form below and stand a chance to be featured on The Learning Tree blog.
Suraj is a self-proclaimed audiophile and a jack-of-all-trades writer with a diverse set of interests. An amateur quizzer on the side, he claims that the first object he fell in love with was a book on flags at age 3. His favourite punctuation mark is the Oxford Comma, which coincidentally happens to be one of his favourite songs too!
Arya C is a 4th grader who talks about her transition from the US to India and how BYJU`S has helped her at that. She also loves how BYJU`S has made learning a lot more fun.
Meet Sourabh who has a ton to say about his BYJU`S learning experience. His love for quizzes, games and other fun activities are paying off!
V Shriya is a class eight student who has been using BYJU’S for a year now. She shares her experiences with using the app and how it has helped her in improving her academic performance.
Aanvi from class 9 has been with BYJU`S for just 6 months and hear what she has to say about her learning experience with the app.
Comments
P RAAHITHYA
October 18, 2021
I like Byju’s, because in this Byju’s I learnt many new details about this planet
Shreya chaurasia
October 12, 2021
Nice ?
What if we had a large size of neuron cells or the other cells in our body
Ankita Chavhan
October 1, 2021
Nice
Aaniyah
September 18, 2021
What if no one have knowledge about anything…It could be about learning, cooking , art & craft , work , handling the whole country, etc. I hope that byjuite will give me the response.⚘
Purvesh tandekar
September 13, 2021
I like it
Almeera Fatima
September 11, 2021
Thank you sooo much byju’s for sending me Birthday gift cards ??
Khanak kumari
September 11, 2021
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Hanshika saini
September 4, 2021
What if there is no satellite in universe
Mohfiza Yeasmin Choudhury
September 3, 2021
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Sayali Gajanan Dapkekar
September 3, 2021
If there were no mountains all ice will come on plane land
Shamayita Bag
September 2, 2021
Very nice and informative blog ??
N P Anha
September 2, 2021
Outstanding work Byju’s
yeshasvi
September 2, 2021
What If …….clouds
disappear ? After a few years
yeshasvi
September 2, 2021
What If …….sun disappear ? After a few years
Vaishnavi
August 31, 2021
I Love byjus. The learning app
Yashika gehlot
August 31, 2021
Thanks ?
G. Pavithra
August 29, 2021
What if we had no water in the World
Avinava Nandi
August 29, 2021
Thanks byju’s and Anishka for this interesting fact…?
Sayan Das
August 29, 2021
Wow, I love this Byjus the learning App
Alankrit Kashyap
August 29, 2021
Nice one ??
Celestia
August 29, 2021
What if there was no moon
Arijeet Dutta
August 28, 2021
I never thought that mountains are soooooo important for all of us(all living beings)! Thanks byju’s !????
Sanyam Nangia
August 28, 2021
Wow
D. Shivani Sri
August 28, 2021
If it happens mean most of the natural thing will get different
Hadassah Sakile
August 25, 2021
This was really good to read and I loved it ..
Kurshid alam
August 24, 2021
The earth was amazing
Arnav jain
August 24, 2021
If there is no sea
Abhijeet
August 24, 2021
Ok
Karen Sibi
August 24, 2021
This is very informative. Thanks Byjus. I’ve sent my What If question. I hope you’ll answer my What If question.
Ravi moksha
August 24, 2021
This is a interesting doubt and a nice answer what would happen if mountain disappears
Madhusri?
August 24, 2021
Nice ??
Vivek kumar
August 23, 2021
What if there is no animals.
Purander Sisode
August 23, 2021
Then on earth living- thing the life on earth will hard to leave
Dhruvika D Singh
August 23, 2021
I have a question
What if Earth ?was triangular in shape? What would be the effect????
Shreyas have khaire
August 23, 2021
I love byjus
Akshara
August 22, 2021
What if Earth was flat
Sonam Pradhan
August 22, 2021
Nice information ??
Vidhi yadav
August 21, 2021
what if clouds come on the land
Prapti Bhuyan
August 21, 2021
Nice????
Prapti Bhuyan
August 21, 2021
Awesome??
Arushi Rathi
August 21, 2021
What if all deserts dissappeared??
Deepti Naik
August 21, 2021
Amazing
Alina Khan
August 21, 2021
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Agnibin Das
August 21, 2021
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Sankalp Singh
August 21, 2021
What if carbon dioxide dissappear for 10 seconds
SK MD ARMAAN
August 21, 2021
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SK MD ARMAAN
August 21, 2021
Good
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August 21, 2021
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August 21, 2021
Wow I have learn sooo many things it’s a amaizing
Disha Kirti Pandey
August 21, 2021
What if there are no planet
Harshini
August 21, 2021
Buju’s is super
Diyaa .S. Patil
August 20, 2021
What if right hmm what if There were no insects
Goutham sai
August 20, 2021
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Kumar Ansh Raj
August 20, 2021
What if there is no light bulb
Sagar Jagadeesh Bhat
August 20, 2021
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Athashree
August 20, 2021
What would happen if earth’s atmosphere did’nt had nitrogen (a type of gas) ?
Harshita
August 20, 2021
What if we found live dinosaurs living on the remote island???
Varshan
August 20, 2021
Nice
Aradhya Kiran
August 20, 2021
Yeah
akhilesh
August 20, 2021
very important matter
very nice
Sanshita jerusha
August 20, 2021
Very bad Idea ?✖️??
Pranita
August 20, 2021
What if there was no Water?
Vishwas 9th grade Chitradurga
August 20, 2021
Thanks Byjus
Aayush Aditeya
August 20, 2021
@Hetal Mathur your question is very unexpected.
But if there were no ants than nothing would effect on human beings..
Aayush Aditeya
August 20, 2021
Wow @Shanyansh Pandey
So many comments
Your spelling is wrong for “best”
Aayush Aditeya
August 20, 2021
If there were no mountains than India would not be like what it is today..
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August 20, 2021
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Uhaja
August 20, 2021
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Shruti Raj Singh
August 20, 2021
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Akshitha
August 20, 2021
What if earth didn’t exist and the space had oxygen
Anubhav
August 20, 2021
That was amazing !
Rashi Rajput
August 20, 2021
What If Mountains Just Stopped Existing
We didn’t get pure are water because Mountains provide freshwater for more than half of humanity. The air of the mountain is so pure, you can actually feel close to nature.
Trisha sunil joshi
August 20, 2021
Wowww!!! Very exciting article
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August 20, 2021
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August 20, 2021
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August 20, 2021
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August 20, 2021
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Akshita Rajvanshi
August 20, 2021
I Like to read this thing
Atturu pavani
August 20, 2021
What if happen if there is no rains in the whole world
Sujal
August 20, 2021
What if the earth ? start rotation opposite???
Jahnavi
August 20, 2021
Byjus is best for studies
Manish Choudhary
August 20, 2021
BYJUS GENIUS YOU LEFT ONE THING THAT MOUNTAIN ALSO PRODUCED RIVERS ALSO. PLEASE ADD THIS ONE.
Qareen
August 20, 2021
I really not even think about it ?
now I know about it ,Thank you byjus
Ibraheem hasan
August 20, 2021
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Minkhush yogi
August 20, 2021
????? ????
Gurasis kaur
August 19, 2021
Sir what if there were no moon ?? please answer me I am wating
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August 19, 2021
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Merlyn Paul
August 19, 2021
What if there was no moon?
Dharshan
August 19, 2021
No oceans means decrease in 12years.
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August 19, 2021
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August 19, 2021
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Rohini Pandey
August 19, 2021
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Thank you byju’s ?
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August 19, 2021
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August 19, 2021
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Shruti
August 19, 2021
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Fiza Hossain
August 19, 2021
What would happen if trees go extinct?
Krishnendu Das
August 19, 2021
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August 19, 2021
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August 19, 2021
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August 19, 2021
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August 19, 2021
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Fathima Jabeen S
August 19, 2021
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Fathima Jabeen S
August 19, 2021
Mountain are the best Thing in the world????
Anshuman Roy
August 19, 2021
What if? There was no satelites …..
Hetal Mathur
August 5, 2021
What if we had no ant in the planet
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August 2, 2021
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August 2, 2021
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August 2, 2021
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August 2, 2021
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