Mountains & Mountain Building
Process, definition, & pictures
Isostatic Rebound –
crust rises as a result of
__________________
removal of mass
This iceberg demonstrates the process
of isostatic rebound.
A little bit of explanation

The greater the
mass above the
base level (the
mountain), the
greater will be
the mass below
the base level
(roots)

As weathering and
erosion reduces the
mass above the
baseline, interior
uplift forces cause
the mass to rise
until there is
balance between
the mountain and
its root.
Continued explanation

The process
continues with
the mass above
resulting in less
and less and
mass, and
consequently,
less and less
root.

Eventually the
mountain mass
has all been
reduced too the
base level and
the root has all
but disappeared.
Folded rock layers produced by
compressional forces. This part of the
syncline
folded mountain shows a __________.
Example of new crust being formed at
Iceland.
Sheild
_____ type volcano on the mid-Atlantic ridge.
Convergent-Boundary Mountains

The following three slides show
mountain types produced when
together
plates move __________.
Ocean-Ocean Convergence
Volcanic
island arc
trench
Basaltic
magma
Examples: Aleutian Islands,
Japan
Phillipines,______
Ocean-Continental Convergence
volcanic
mountains
trench
metamorphic rock
Examples: Cascades
________, Andes
Andesitic
magma,
granitic
intrusions
Continental-Continental Convergence
metamorphic and
sedimentary rock
folded
mountains
faults
igneous
intrusions
Appalachians
Examples: Himalayas,______________
Nonconvergent-Boundary Mountains

The next four slides show
mountains formed at divergent
boundaries (plates moving _____),
apart
hot spots, and areas of faulting or
uplift.
Divergent-Boundary Mountain
pillow basalts
intrusive rock
Example: Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Volcanic Hot Spot Mountain
extrusive
ingneous
rock
Hawaii Galapagos
Example: ______,
Uplifted Mountains
intrusive igneous
rock, less
structural
deformation
Adirondacks
Example: ____________
Fault-Block Mountains
mostly
sedimentary
rock
Example:Grand
__________,
Tetons Basin and Range
Definition

There is no universally-accepted
definition of mountain. Elevation,
volume, relief, steepness, spacing and
continuity have been used as criteria for
defining a mountain. In the Oxford
English Dictionary a mountain is defined
as "a natural elevation of the earth
surface rising more or less abruptly from
the surrounding level and attaining an
altitude which, relatively to the adjacent
elevation, is impressive or notable."

In the United States, the following
points of measurement have been
used and taught in geography classes:



Flat to 500 feet, base to highest point Rolling Plain
Highest point 501 to 999 feet above base
- Hill
Highest point 1000 feet or more
above base - Mountain
Mount Damavand, Iran
Five Finger Mountain, Azerbaijan
The Alps, Europe
Swiss Alps
The Matterhorn in the Alps, the
classic pyramidal peak
Mount Olympus, Greece
The Himalayas
Mount Everest, Himalayas
Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Great Dividing Range, Victoria,
Australia
Pilot Mountain, North Carolina
Northern Appalachians, Quebec
Yu Shan, Taiwan
Tangkuban Parahu – Java,
Indonesia
Dinaric Alps, Montenegro
Rocky Mountains, U.S. & Canada
Andes Mountains, South America