Rock samples found by Chinese geologists recently around Mt. Qomolangma, known as Mt. Everest in the west, indicate that the world's highest peak once exceeded 12,000 meters in height, the People's Daily reported Tuesday.

Ding Lin, a leading geologist for the fourth scientific expedition on Mt. Qomolangma and also a senior researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said they found many stretched cracks in the north slope of Mt. Qomolangma.

The stratum was stretched some 13 million years ago, Ding told the newspaper.

"It means that the mount was much higher at that time than right now," Ding was quoted by saying.

After careful calculation, Ding said they assumed that the height might have gone beyond 12,000 meters.

The Himalayas, of which Mt. Qomolangma is a part, are the result of a 65-million-year-old collision between the Indian plate and Eurasian plate.

The officially recognized altitude of Mt. Qomolangma today is 8,848 meters. 

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2005)