4. CONTENT
The Alps
The Andes
The Himalaya
The Rockies
The Appalachians
The Ruwenzori
The Pyrenees
The Alborz
The Atlas
The Urals
The Sierra Nevada
The Cascades
The Alaska Range
The Great Dividing Range
The Zagros
The Karakoram
The Hindu Kush
The Brooks Range
5. THE ALPS
The Alps are the largest mountain
system in Europe. They cover parts of
southeastern France and northern
Italy, most of Switzerland, part of
southern Germany, and some of
Austria and Yugoslavia.
They are forming an arc some 1200
km (750 mi) long from the Gulf of
Genoa to the Danube River at Vienna.
Most travelers consider the towering
Alpine peaks, covered with ice and
snow, the most magnificent natural
sight in Europe.
6. This chain of mountains swings in a broad arc
from near the Mediterranean Sea in France
northward to form the border between France
and Italy.
The Alps are a complex fold-mountain system.
Sedimentary deposits of vast thickness, mainly
limestone and dolomite, were laid down in the
ancestral Tethys Sea during the Triassic and
Jurassic periods.
Subsequently, enormous pressure generated by
a collision between the African and Eurasian
plates thrust these rock strata upward and
northward to form recumbent folds (nappes),
which in the process of movement were
detached from their roots. The four glaciations
of the Quaternary period (beginning about 2.5
million years ago) were of great importance in
the sculpturing of the Alps.
MAP OF THE ALPS MOUNTAIN
RANGE
7. THE ANDES
The Andes Mountains are the
longest mountain chain in
the world. They stretch along
the entire west coast of South
America from Cape Horn to
Panama, a distance of 4,500
miles.
Many Andean peaks rise over
20,000 feet (6,096 m.). It is
about 500 miles across the
widest part of the range. In
Spanish, they are called
Cordillera de los Andes, which
means Andes Mountain
Range.
8. The southern Andes are less than 10,000 feet (3.048 m.) in elevation near the
southern tip of the continent. Farther north, the peaks are higher. Aconcagua
(22,841 feet; 6,962 m.), the highest peak in the Americas, and one of the
seven summits stands in Argentina, but is only about 65 miles from Santiago,
Chile.
The Northern Andes have three ranges of mountains, and most are lower than
the mountains to the south.
1. One range runs along the coast through Colombia into Panama.
2. The central range lies between the two narrow valleys of the Cauca River
and the Magdalena River.
3. Third part of the Andes includes the famous volcano of Tolima (17,060 feet;
5,200 m.).
The third branch of the northern range runs northeast into Venezuela. Many
peaks in the northern Andes reach 15,000 feet (4,572 m.) or more. The
highest is Cristobal Colon (18,701 feet; 5,700 m.) in Colombia.
Many of these high mountains are volcanoes. Some of them are active.
9. Subduction of the Nazca
Plate beneath the South
American Plate to form the
Andes.
The name ANDES is believed
to have come from ANTI, the
Quechuan word for copper.
Much of this metal is found in
the mountains. The Andes
also contain gold, silver, tin,
lead, iron, platinum, and
quicksilver.
The Andes formed during the
Cretaceous period (about 138
million to about 65 million
years ago) when the Pacific
crustal plate began to slowly
slide beneath the South
American plate, uplifting and
folding the sedimentary rocks
that comprise the Andes
10. THE HIMALAYA
The Himalaya Range is the highest mountain system in the world. The name
"Himalaya" comes from the Sanskrit language and means "the House of
Snow," or "the Snowy Range." It consists of several parallel ranges.
11. The mountains extend in a 1,500 mile curve across southern Asia from the
Pamirs, west of the great bend of the Indus River, eastward to the great
bend of the Brahmaputra River. They form a barrier which separates
northern India from the plateau of Tibet. Parts of the range are as much as
200 miles wide.
The Himalayas rise in steps from the plains of northern India, which have
an elevation of about 1,000 feet (305 m.) above sea level.
Mount Everest (29,035 feet; 8,849 m.), which lies between Tibet and the
kingdom of Nepal, is the highest mountain in the world.
The passes that run through the Himalayas are among the highest in the
world. Few of the passes are lower than 15,000 or 16,000 feet above sea
level. Most of them are covered with snow from November to May and are
impossible to cross. Many glaciers form in the high passes.
The mountains extend in a 1,500 mile curve across southern Asia from the Pamirs,
west of the great bend of the Indus River, eastward to the great bend of the
Brahmaputra River. They form a barrier which separates northern India from the
plateau of Tibet. Parts of the range are as much as 200 miles wide.
The Himalayas rise in steps from the plains of northern India, which have an
elevation of about 1,000 feet (305 m.) above sea level.
Mount Everest (29,035 feet; 8,849 m.), which lies between Tibet and the kingdom of
Nepal, is the highest mountain in the world
The passes that run through the Himalayas are among the highest in the
world. Few of the passes are lower than 15,000 or 16,000 feet above sea level.
Most of them are covered with snow from November to May and are
impossible to cross. Many glaciers form in the high passes.
12. India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided. Because both
these continental landmasses have about the same rock density, one plate
could not be subducted under the other
13. THE ROCKIES
The Rockies are a well-
named group of jagged,
snow-capped peaks which
run through the western
part of North America.
This chain of mountains
extends over 3,000 miles
and is almost 1,000 miles
wide in some places. They
begin in Northern New
Mexico and extend as far
as northern Alaska. From
New Mexico, the mountain
range stretches through
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming,
Idaho, and Montana.
14. At the International Border, the part of the range known as the Canadian
Rockies passes through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the
Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory of Canada. The Rocky Mountain
range is part of the Cordilleran chain which reaches from Cape Horn to the
Arctic Circle. The Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico and the Andes of South
America form the southern part of this chain.
Most of the peaks in this range were formed in a great upheaval of the earth's
crust.
The sides of the mountains have been found to contain the fossil skeletons of
animals that once lived in the sea, and rocks that were formed in the hot
interior of the earth.
In the southern half of the range, there are mountains which were once
volcanoes.
Evident signs of volcanic activity are also found in the huge lava sheets of
Idaho and the geysers of Yellowstone National Park.
Since the time they were formed, the peaks have been cut into their sharp spires
and angled faces by the forces of glaciers. The glaciers hollowed out the valleys
between the mountain peaks.
15. The Rocky Mountains took
shape during a period of
intense plate tectonic
activity that formed much
of the rugged landscape of
the western United States.
Three major mountain-
building episodes reshaped
the west from about 170 to
40 million years ago
(Jurassic to Cenozoic
Periods). The last mountain
building event, the
Laramide orogeny, (about
70-40 million years ago)
THE ROCKEY MOUNTANIS MAP
16. THE
APPALACHIANS
The Appalachians are the chief mountain system of eastern North
America, and the oldest mountains in the United States. They stretch
southwestward for about 1,500 miles from Quebec in Canada to
central Alabama. The mountains form the eastern continental divide
between the rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and those that
drain into the Gulf of Mexico.
17. The chief ranges are: Notre Dame Mountains (Quebec), Green Mountains
(Vermont), White Mountains (New Hampshire), Adirondack Mountains (New
York), the Alleghenies (Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia),
the Blue Ridge Mountains (North Carolina), the Cumberland (Virginia and
Tennessee), the Black Mountains (North Carolina) and the Great Smoky
Mountains (Tennessee and North Carolina).
There are more than 40 peaks over 6,000 feet (1,829 m.). The chief peaks of
the range include Mount Washington in New Hampshire (6,288 feet; 1,916
m.), Clingmans Dome in Tennessee (6,642 feet; 2,024 m.) and the highest
peak of the entire system, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina (6,684 feet;
2,037 m.), which is also the highest point east of the Mississippi River.
Rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean have cut many valleys with steep
sides, especially in the central part of the range. Geographers call these
valleys water gaps or wind gaps, depending upon whether or not a river runs
through them.
18. THE APPALACHIANS MOUNTAINS
MAP
The Appalachians first formed
roughly 480 million years ago
during the Ordovician Period
and once reached elevations
similar to those of the Alps and
the Rocky Mountains before
they were eroded.
19. THE RUWENZORI
The Ruwenzori (formerly spelled Ruwenzori) is a spectacular mountain
range located in Africa on the border of Uganda and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. The range is not volcanic but consists of
crystalline rock that moved upward from the earth's crust.
20. The range is only 80 miles long but contains one of the most dramatic
diversities of ecosystems in the world, for here within just a few miles from
each other are the heat of tropical jungles and the cold of glacial ice.
Finally, above 14,500 feet and reaching to Margherita Peak at 16,763 feet
(5,109 m.) the highest point in the range, atop Mount Stanley, the
Rwenzori mountains are wrapped in permanent snow and storm-swept
glaciers.
Finally, above 14,500 feet and reaching to Margherita Peak at
16,763 feet (5,109 m.) the highest point in the range, atop Mount
Stanley, the Rwenzori mountains are wrapped in permanent snow
and storm-swept glaciers. The first known ascent of the highest peak
was made by Luigi di Savoia, the Duke of Abruzzi, accompanied by
J. Petigax, C. Ollier and J. Brocherel, in 1906.
21. Unlike the higher peaks
of Mt. Kilimanjaro and
Mt. Kenya, the Rwenzori
Mountains are a fault
block mountain range
that has formed due to
the rifting that has taken
place in East Africa over
the past 10 million years.
Most of the rocks of the
range are metamorphic
in nature, largely
gneisses in the northern
and southern parts of the
range, and a
metamorphosed igneous
rock, amphibolite,
among the high central
peaks.
THE RWENZORI MAP
22. THE PYRENEES
The Pyrenees is a chain of
mountains that forms a natural
barrier between France and Spain.
They extend from the Bay of Biscay
to the Mediterranean Sea, a distance
of about 270 miles. They cover an
area of over 20,000 square miles.
Their average height is only 3,500 ft.
(1067 m.), but many peaks in the
central ranges rise to over 10,000
feet above sea level.
Glacier fields are found on the northern slopes of the mountains.
Minerals found in these mountains include iron, lead, silver and cobalt.
23. Some 500 million years ago the
region now occupied by the
Pyrenees was covered with the
folded mountains created
during the Paleozoic era,
called the Hercynian, of which
the Massif Central, in France
and the Meseta, in Spain are
but two remnants. Although
these other massifs have had a
comparatively quiet history of
internal deformation, or
tectonism, since their
emergence, the Pyrenean block
was submerged in a relatively
unstable area of the Earth’s
crust that became active about
225 million years ago.
THE PYRENEES MAP
24. THE ALBORZ
The Alborz (or Elburz) is a range of
mountains in northern Iran. The
range is almost 600 miles long, and
varies in width from about 19 to 81
miles, and is located south of the
Caspian Sea. The highest mountain
in the range located in northern
Iran is Mount Damavand at 18,406
ft. (5,610 m).
The mountains consist mostly of
limestone with lava beds and
volcanic tuff.
25. The Alborz mountain range forms a
barrier between the south Caspian
and the Iranian Plateau.
It is only 60–130 km wide and
consists of sedimentary series dating
from Upper Devonian to Oligocene,
prevalently Jurassic Limestone over
a granite core.
Continental conditions regarding
sedimentation are reflected by thick
Devonian sandstones and by
Jurassic shales containing coal
seams. Marine conditions are
reflected
by Carboniferous and Permian strata
that are composed mainly of
limestone.
26. THE ATLAS
The Atlas Mountains are a range extending 1,500 miles across
northwestern Africa. They run from Cape Guir on the Atlantic
Ocean to Cape Bon on the Mediterranean Sea. The range crosses
part of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. These mountains were
named after Atlas, the Greek Titan.
27. The basement rocks of most of Africa
was formed in the Precambrian and is
much older than the Atlas mountains
lying in Africa.
The Atlas formed during three
subsequent phases of Earth's history.
The first tectonic deformation phase
involves only the Anti-Atlas, which
was formed in the Paleozoic Era
(~300 million years ago) as the result
of continental collions.
28. THE URALS
The Ural Mountains extend for 1,500 miles in a north-south
direction, from the Arctic Ocean to near the Aral Sea. Old map
makers used this range to mark the continental boundary
between Europe and Asia.
29. The Ural Mountains are probably the
richest mountain range of their size in the
world.
These mountains are remarkable in the
variety and amount of mineral wealth
which they contain.
Salt, silver and gold have been mined
here since the 1500s. By the 1800s, the
Ural region was famous for its gems and
semiprecious stones, which include
emerald, beryl, amethyst, topaz and
sapphire.
Today, mining activities produce coal,
iron, copper, gold, platinum, silver,
nickel, aluminum, manganese, lead, zinc,
magnesium, chromium, potash, salt,
building stone, talc, diamonds, and
soapstone.
THE URALS MOUNTAINS
RANGE MAP
30. THE SIERRA
NEVADA
The Sierra Nevada is a huge uplifted and tilted granite mountain
range which extends north and south for 400 miles in eastern
California. Its highest point is Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet
(4,421 m.).
31. This range consists mostly
of Fault-block mountains.
Erosion by glaciers has exposed the
granite and formed the light-colored
mountains and cliffs that make up the
range
32. THE CASCADES
The Cascades are a chain of mountains that extend from northern
California through western Oregon and Washington State, into
southern British Columbia.
33. The mountains are made up of
lava and volcanic materials. Many
of the peaks are "extinct" or
"dormant" volcanoes
Lassen Peak and Mount St. Helens
are the only "active" volcanoes in the
United States outside of Alaska and
Hawaii.
34. THE ALASKA
The Alaska Range is the largest mountain chain in Alaska. It
curves across south central Alaska for 400 miles, from the Alaska
Peninsula to the Yukon Territory. The mountains trap a great deal
of moisture moving northwards from the Gulf of Alaska, thus
producing tremendous amounts of rain and heavy snowfall.
35. Alaska is home to majestic
mountains, glaciers, active
volcanoes, huge tracks of
forested land and some of the
planet's most varied extremes
of cold, heat, rain, snow and
wind.
36. THE GREAT DIVIDING
RANGE
The Great Dividing Range of Australia is so called because it forms a
watershed. Rivers on the east side flow from the highlands toward the Pacific
Ocean; on the west side they flow toward the central lowlands. In southern
New South Wales and Eastern Victoria are the Australian Alps, the continent's
tallest mountains. Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak, rises to a height
of 7,316 feet (2,230 m.).
37. Petroleum resources, coal resources, uranium and thorium resources, geothermal
energy, renewable energy resources, basin geology. The highest mountains on the
Australian mainland are in the Snowy part of the Great Dividing Range separating
the central lowlands from the eastern highlands.
38. THE ZAGROS
The Zagros Mountain range stretches south and west from the
borders of Turkey and Russia to the Persian Gulf, and is Iran's
largest mountain range.
39. The range is about 932 miles
long and stretches from
northeastern Iraq, to the
Strait of Hormuz.
Many peaks are higher than
9,800 ft. (2,987 m.). The
tallest mountain is Zard-Kuh
at an elevation of 14,922 ft.
(4,548 m.).
This range consists of folded
mountains made up mostly of
limestone and dolomite.
ZAGROS RANGE MAP
40. THE
KARAKORAM
The Karakoram is a large mountain range spanning the borders
between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of
Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan), Ladakh (India), and Xinjiang
(China). It is actually the northwestern extension of the
Himalaya.
41. This range is home to many
peaks over five miles in
height, including K2 (Mount
Godwin Austen), the second
highest peak in the world
(8,611 m/28,251 ft.),
The range is about 311 miles
in length, and is the most
heavily glaciated part of the
world outside the polar
regions. The Siachen Glacier
at 44 miles long
42. THE HINDU KUSH
The Hindu Kush is a chain of mountains in Central
Asia extending to the west of the Himalayas. They are
part of the boundary between eastern Afghanistan and
northwestern Pakistan.
43. The name Kush, which
means death, was probably
given to the mountains
because of the dangerous
passes between the peaks.
Some of these high-altitude
passes were used by
Alexander the Great and
others in their invasions of
India. The mountains have
permanently glaciated
peaks and little vegetation.
It is 800 km long
mountain range that
stretches between central
Afghanistan and
northern Pakistan.
It has the height
about 25,230' (7,690 m).
HINDU KUSH MOUNTAINS MAP
44. THE BROOKS RANGE
The Brooks Range in northern Alaska is the northernmost section of the Rocky
mountains and the highest mountain range in the Arctic Circle. This range
(named for USGS geologist Alfred Hulse Brooks) runs east to west across the
state about 200 miles south of the Arctic Ocean.
45. The Brooks Range is a
mountain range in far
northern North America
stretching some 1100 km from
west to east across northern
Alaska into Canada's Yukon
Territory.
THE BROOKS RANGE MAP
46. 1. A simplified timeline of events comprises:
2. (1) Devonian extension.
3. (2) Mississippian extension and Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization.
4. (3) a passive interval.
5. (4) pre-Brooks Range orogeny rock-formation and thermal event.
6. (5) inception of Brooks Range orogeny.
7. (6) exhumation and the end of main-stage deformation.
8. (7) subsequent episodic deformation.
This compilation is supplemented by new 40Ar/39Ar dates of white mica
from the Anarraaq and Red Dog Zn-Pb-Ag (+ barite) deposits from the
western Brooks Range.
The deposits are hosted in black shale and carbonate rocks of the Late
Mississippian-Early Pennsylvanian Kuna Formation.
Quartz-pyrite-white mica grains in sedimentary rocks above the Anarraaq
deposit yield an age of 195.0 ± 2.0 Ma, and paragenetically late quartz-
pyrite-white mica from the Main orebody at the Red Dog deposit has an
age of 126.1 ± 0.7 Ma. These white micas are much younger than the age
of Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization at Red Dog (338 ± 5.8 Ma Re-Os age of
pyrite).
47. Aims & Objectives
The mountains are forming due to the plates
movement.
Some mountains are forming due to volcanic
activity.
The mountains they shows the geological time
and formation.
The mountains are like a book of history
which tells us the history of earth.
