Introduction
Mountains are formed when the Earths crust(tectonic plates) are pushed up in huge folds or forced up or down in blocks.Slowly over the course of millions of years, mountains are formed.However, not all mountains are the same.There are many different kinds of mountains, which are fold, block, dome and volcanic.Because they are constantly made more jagged(eroded) by the weather the rocky surface of mountains wears away.Have you ever wanted to know how many different types of mountains there are?
Block mountains
Block mountains start to form when a slab of land breaks off and is forced up whilst two tectonic plates push together from under the Earths crust.On either side of the mountain blocks are forced down, while the mountain is forced up.At the bottom of block mountains, there are things called faults, which are lines where the ground breaks apart.When faults happen, an earthquake is likely to happen just after the fault.
Dome mountains
Another kind of mountain is dome mountains.Dome mountains are formed when liquid rock inside the Earth forces the ground above it upwards.The swelling of the liquid rock doesn’t break through the Earth though.The force or the pressure produces a dome like shape. Also, molten rock from inside the Earth pushes up, which makes the dome shape.However,unlike a volcano, the molten rock doesn’t erupt through the Earths surface.
Fold mountains
Folds mountains are the most common type of mountains in the world.Slowly, over the years, tectonic plates push forward making more and more folds.One example of a fold mountain range is the Himalayas in Asia.This mountain range is 50million years old, which is actually quite new.Since, many mountain ranges are much older than the Himalayas.The Himalayas started to form when the Asian plate and Indian plate collided with each other.In the Himalayas is Mount Everest ,which is the highest point on Earth and tallest mountain on Earth.
Volcanic mountains
Volcanic mountains are volcanoes, which we class as mountains.One volcanic mountain is in Japan and it’s called Mount Fuji.Mount Fuji is an active volcanic mountain, which could erupt at any moment.Volcanic mountains can erupt and destroy cities and towns at any moment.This is because they active volcanoes.Have you ever wanted to know what life would be like without these 4 kinds of mountains?
A brilliant information page on mountains and how they are formed. Great use of subheadings and pictures.