The Himalayas, which host glaciers, modulate the Indian Monsoon and create an arid Tibetan Plateau, play a vital role in distributing freshwater resources to the world’s most populous regions. The Himalayas formed under prolonged crustal thickening and erosion by glaciers and rivers. Chomolungma (8,849 m)—also known as Mount Everest or Sagarmāthā—is higher than surrounding peaks, and GPS measurements suggest a higher uplift rate in recent years than the long-term trend. Here we analyse the potential contribution of a river capture event in the Kosi River drainage basin on the renewed surface uplift of Chomolungma. We numerically reconstruct the capture process using a simple stream power model combined with nonlinear inverse methods constrained by modern river profiles. Our best-fit model suggests the capture event occurred approximately 89 thousand years ago and caused acceleration of downstream incision rates. Flexural models estimate this non-steady erosion triggers isostatic response and surface uplift over a broad geographical area. We suggest that part of Chomolungma’s anomalous elevation (~15–50 m) can be explained as the isostatic response to capture-triggered river incision, highlighting the complex interplay between geological dynamics and the formation of topographic features.

喜马拉雅山脉拥有冰川、调节印度季风并形成干旱的青藏高原，在向世界人口最多的地区分配淡水资源方面发挥着至关重要的作用。喜马拉雅山脉是在地壳长期加厚以及冰川和河流的侵蚀下形成的。珠穆朗玛峰 (8,849 m)（也称为珠穆朗玛峰或萨加玛塔）比周围的山峰要高，GPS 测量表明近年来的抬升率高于长期趋势。在这里，我们分析了科西河流域河流侵占事件对珠穆朗玛峰地表重新隆起的潜在贡献。我们使用简单的水流功率模型与现代河流剖面约束的非线性逆方法相结合，对捕获过程进行数值重建。我们的最佳拟合模型表明捕获事件发生在大约 89000 年前，并导致下游切割率加速。弯曲模型估计这种非稳态侵蚀会引发广泛地理区域的均衡响应和地表隆起。我们认为，珠穆朗玛峰的部分异常海拔（~15-50 m）可以解释为对捕获触发的河流切割的均衡响应，突出了地质动力学与地形特征形成之间复杂的相互作用。