Types of Mountains

• “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.”

• John Muir

Objective

• Students will be able to identify four types of mountains and describe how the Sierra Nevada was formed.

Types of Mountains

• More than just lifted parts of the earths crust.

• Complicated structures that provide evidence of the forces that created them.

• Mountains are classified by the forces that create them.– 4 different types of mountains.

Folded Mountains and Plateaus

• Highest Mountains in the world are made up of folded mountains.

• Most commonly found where continents collide.

• Mountains that have been folded together like an accordion.

• The same forces that fold mountains also uplift plateaus.

Folded Mountains and Plateus

• Plateaus are large mountains with large areas of flat-topped rock high above sea level.

• Most plateaus are formed when thick, horizontal layers of rock are slowly lifted.

Fault-Block Mountains and Grabens

• Fault-block Mountains are formed when blocks drop down relative to the other blocks and mountains.

• Some fault-block mountains form narrow valleys called grabens.

Volcanic Mountains

• Mountains that form when molten rock erupts onto the earth surface.

• May develop on the land or in the ocean.

• Most volcanic mountains are found on convergent plate boundaries.

• Other large volcanic mountains are found over hot spots on the ocean floor.

Dome Mountains

• An unusual type of mountain that is formed when molten rock rises through the crust and pushes up the rock layers above it.

Review

1. Describe what type of lithospheric plate collisions that build mountains.

2. Name the four types of mountains and how they are formed.

3. Explain how plateaus are formed.

4. How do volcanic mountains grow?