How are mountains formed?

Mountains are formed when the Earths crust (tectonic plates) get pushed together to form a mountain. Slowly over the cause of millions of years, Mountains are formed. However, mountains are not all the same. There are many different types of mountains, which are fold, dome and volcanic. Mountains, which are constantly eroded by the weather, are jagged. The weather at mountains, wears the rocky surface away.

Plateaus

Plateaus are flat areas of land found in high places. When a mountain is created, blocks of Earth can drop and lift next to each other to produce a high mountain and a lower plateau. Plateaus can be found high above sea level. The Tibetan plateau in the Himalayas is the worlds highest plateau, and the largest. It is 16,400 feet ( 5000 meters ) above sea level.

Dome

Dome mountains only occur when liquid rock inside the Earth forces the ground above it upwards. This swelling doesn’t break through the surface. The force, or pressure, produces a dome like shape.

Fold

Fold mountains are the most common mountains in the world. The tectonic plates push forward slowly over the years, making more and more folds. The Himalayas in Asia is a good example of a fold mountain. They are over 50 million years old, which is quite new to us. Many other mountain ranges are older than us.

Block

Block mountains begin to form when a slab breaks off and is forced up and two tectonic plates pull apart or push together.

this is a block mountain it was formed by many chunks of crust. It forms slowly and after a while it finally forms into a gigantic mountain or volcano if it is mount Vesuvius. It has big green trees, big white clouds and very big rock of mountains.

 

A brilliant information page on mountains and how they are formed. Great use of subheadings and pictures.