Outcome:
Explain how compressional forces create fold mountains.
Differentiate between the terms anticline and syncline.
Fold Mountains p. 13
Most Major Mountain ranges were formed by folding.
The collision of continental plates causes the thin crust (lithosphere) to bend.
For example the Appalachian mountains and the atlas mountains were formed by folding when North
America and Africa collided 400 million years ago.
All rock that is put under extreme pressure for long periods of time (thousands or millions of years) will
fold like clay. Folding is a process in which the Earth's plates are pushed together in a roller coaster like
series of high points and low points. Folding bends many layers of rocks without breaking them. The
peaks are known as anticlines while the valleys are known as synclines.
In this familiar figure we can see where the plates come together and that folded mountains have
formed.
Animation needed here