LESSON 14.3 How do mountains form?
LEARNING INTENTION By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
• identify and describe the different types of mountains • explain how different mountain ranges have formed • discuss the interconnection between fault lines and mountain ranges.
Tune in Examine FIGURE1, which focuses on mountains from around the world, and refer back to FIGURE3 in lesson 14.2 while completing the following ‘tune in’ questions. 1. Can you see any similarities between the locations of mountains and the locations of plate boundaries? These kinds of similarities are known as spatial associations.
2. Which continent do you think has been the most tectonically active? Justify your response. 3. Think carefully about FIGURE 1. What other information would you like to see on this map?
FIGURE1 Selected world mountains
ARCTIC OCEAN
Arctic Circle
Urals
Rocky Mountains
Harz
Black Range
Alps
Grand Teton
Sierra Nevada
Colorado Plateau
Himalayas
ATLANTIC
Tropic of Cancer
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Great Rift Valley
Equator
INDIAN
OCEAN
Andes
OCEAN
Tropic of Capricorn
Great Dividing Range
Table Mountain
Mountain formations
Fold Fault-block Dome Plateau Table mountain
0
2000
4000 km
Source: Spatial Vision
A mountain is a landform that rises high above the surrounding land. Most mountains have certain characteristics in common, although not all mountains have all these features. Many have steep sides and form a peak at the top, called a summit. Some mountains located close together have steep valleys between them, which are known as gorges. Mountains and mountain ranges have formed over billions of years from tectonic activity (movement in the Earth’s crust). The Earth’s surface is always changing — sometimes very slowly and sometimes dramatically.
364 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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