FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
HOW DO MOUNTAINS FORM???
(Write down what is in red)
The great mountain ranges of the world were created because of the constant
but very slow movement of the Earth's plates. When the plates of the Earth
collide the crust becomes high mountain ranges. The roots of the world's great
mountain ranges contain some of the oldest rocks on the surface of the Earth.
Some of these rocks are over 3.5 billion years old!! These rocks were once buried
deep inside the Earth and have been raised into mountains by the collisions of
the plates.
These plates travel at a very slow rate about 1 to 4 inches per year. The Indian
Subcontinent was a very fast mover, clipping along at over 4 inches per year.
When it slammed into the Eurasian plate over 24 million years ago the collision
built the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. In fact, the
Himalayas are still climbing higher and higher today.
FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
DEFINITION
Fault-block mountains form along fault lines where blocks of rock
either fall, or are thrust up, or slide. Fault blocks are very large
blocks of rock, created by tectonic stresses in the Earth's crust.
Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults.
FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
EXAMPLE of Fault-Block Mountains:
The Wasatch Range in Utah
FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
EXAMPLE of Fault-Block Mountains:
The Sierra Nevada in California
FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
EXAMPLE of Fault-Block Mountains:
Basin and Range topography of southern Nevada
FAULT BLOCK MOUNTAINS
HANDS-On Demonstration of How Mountains Are Formed by Faults
Step 1
Set-up for demo: hold 5 or 6
hardbound textbooks upright on a
desk (binding vertical). One person
measure the width of the books
standing on end.
Step 2
Tilt the books to one side at a 3045 degree angle.
One person measure the horizontal
width using the same technique as
Step 1.