Mountains

What are Mountains?

A mountain is a large landform that rises above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally considered to be steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism. These forces can locally raise the surface of the earth.

Parts of a mountain:

• base

• peak

• crest

• slope

• face

Types of moutains

There are 5 basic mountains, but as the picture given shows 4 types, we will study 4 only.

The 4 main types of mountains are (as shown in the picture): Volcanic, Fault-block, Fold and Dome mountains.

Volcanic Mountains

Volcanic Mountains are formed when molten rock (magma) deep within the earth, erupts, and piles upon the surface. Magna is called lava when it breaks through the earth's crust. When the ash and lava cools, it builds a cone of rock. Rock and lava pile up, layer on top of layer. This is called a Volcanic mountain, and how it's formed.

Fault-block Mountains

Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relatively uniform lithology.

Fold Mountains

Fold mountains are mountains that form mainly by two or more of tectonic plates when are pushed together Earth's crust. Before either plate tectonic theory developed, or the internal architecture of thrust belts became well understood, the term was used for most mountain belts, such as the Himalayas.

Dome mountains

Dome mountains includes any region of flat-lying sedimentary rocks warped upward to form a roughly circular shape, as well as accumulations of lava that pile up over a volcanic vent.

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