Mountains

1
Mountains

• Geology 12 - Chapter 20

2
Orogeny

• Mountains are the result of tectonic forces to
  rock .
• Orogeny is the process by which a mountain is
  built.
• Mountain-building on continents is associated
  with intense deformation, folding, and faulting,
  usually along convergent plate boundaries.

3
Ranges versus Belts

• Ranges are groups of mountain peaks or ridges
  that form areas bordered by valleys or rivers.
• Mountain belts are long chains of mountain ranges
  that can extend across continents or along their
  edges.

4
7 Major Mountain belts

• North American Cordillera backbone" of North
  America, Central America and South America
• Andes South America
• Appalachians/Caledonides spanning continents
• Pyrenees Europe between France and Spain
• Alps - Europe
• Urals - Russia
• Himalaya Asia and includes Everest and K2

5
Belts

• Typically 1000 of kilometers long and 100
  kilometers across (wide)
• Parallel to continental coastlines
• The taller the mountains the younger (example
  steeper rocky mountains are younger than the
  rounded Appalachian) WHY?

6
Rockies
7

• The American Cordillera is a series of steep
  mountain ranges that rim the western edge of
  North and South America it is one of the longest
  mountain belts in the world.
• It includes the Rocky Mountain range!

8
Andes

• The Andes Mountains are located in South America,
  running north to south along the western coast of
  the continent.
• The Andes Mountains are the longest and one of
  the highest mountain ranges in the world.
• They are located in South America and stretch
  4,500 miles from north to south, along the west
  coast of the continent.

9
Andes
10
Appalachians
11
Appalachians

• The Appalachian Mountains are a vast system of
  mountains in eastern North America. The range
  is mostly located in the USA but extends into
  southeastern Canada.
• 160 to 480 km wide, running from NFLD 2,400 km
  south-westward to central Alabama
• The system is divided into a series of ranges.
  Individual mountains averaging around 3,000 ft
  (900 m).
• The highest of the group is Mt. Mitchell in NC
  2037m high.

12
Appalachian Mountains
13
Caledonides

• The Caledonides are the ancient mountain range
  that stretched from the Appalachians in North
  America, through the Atlantic plates, to
  Scandinavia.
• It was caused by the closure of the Iapetus Ocean
  when the continents and terranes of Laurentia,
  Baltica and Avalonia collided. http//en.wikipedia
  .org/wiki/Caledonian_orogeny
• They are a remnant of a former age, the result of
  continental drift.

14
Caledonides
15
Urals

• The Ural Mountains runs roughly north and south
  through western Russia.
• They are sometimes considered as the natural
  boundary between Europe and Asia.
• Stretching 2,400 km north and south from the
  Arctic tundra to the deserts of the Caspian Sea.
• Has the highest peaks, Naroda and Telpos-Iz.

16
Urals
17
Alps

• The Alps are in Europe stretching from Austria
  and Slovenia in the east to Italy, Switzerland,
  Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west.
• Alps (Latin albus meaning white or altus meaing
  high)
• The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc
  (4808m) on the French-Italian border.

18
Alps
19
Pyrenees

• The Pyrenees are mountains in southwest Europe
  that form a natural border between France and
  Spain.
• They separate the Iberian Peninsula from France,
  and extend for about 430 km from the Atlantic
  Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
• Older than the Alps.

20
Pyrenees
21
Himalaya

• Together, the Himalaya mountain system is the
  planet's highest and home to the world's highest
  peaks including Mount Everest.
• To comprehend the enormous scale of Himalayan
  peaks, consider that Aconcagua in the Andes at
  6,962 m, is the highest peak outside the
  Himalaya, while the Himalayan system has over 100
  separate mountains exceeding 7,200 m.
• The Himalayas stretch across 6 nations Bhutan,
  China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

22
Himalaya