THE BEST SCIENTIST IS OPEN TO EXPERIENCE AND BEGINS WITH ROMANCE - THE IDEA THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. - Ray Bradbury – DON’T SAY YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME. YOU HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBER OF HOURS PER DAY THAT WERE GIVEN TO HELEN KELLER, PASTEUR, MICHAELANGELO, MOTHER TERESEA, LEONARDO DA VINCI, THOMAS JEFFERSON AND ALBERT EINSTEIN. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.-

MOUNTAIN BUILDING

FIRST, WHAT IS A MOUNTAIN?

A MOUNTAIN – AN AREA OF LAND THAT RISES ABRUPTLY FROM ITS SURROUNDINGS MOUNTAIN RANGE – A SUCCESSION OF CLOSELY SPACED MOUNTAINS COVERING A PARTICULAR AREA MOUNTAIN BELT – SEVERAL MOUNTAIN RANGES THAT RUN ROUGHLY PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, FOR EXAMPLE THE ALPS, THE HIMALAYAS, THE APPALACHIANS

Red = high Orange = medium Yellow = low

THE AGE OF MOUNTAINS VARIES WIDELY. THE HIMALAYAS ARE STILL BEING FORMED – FORMATION STARTED ABOUT 45 MYA. THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS ARE QUITE OLD – FORMATION STARTED ABOUT 700 MYA AND STOPPED AROUND 200 MYA. THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS HAVE UNDERGONE CONSIDERABLE EROSION AND WEATHERING OVER TIME. FORMATION OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS WAS A FAIRLY COMPLEX PROCESS. THIS IS DESCRIBED ON PAGE 533 IN YOUR TEXT.

THE ROCKS THAT MAKE UP MOUNTAINS ARE NORMALLY SEDIMENTARY ROCKS OR IGNEOUS ROCKS. THE SEDIMENTARY ROCKS WERE DEPOSITED IN A MARINE ENVIRONMENT AND CONSIST OF SHALE, LIMESTONE, AND SANDSTONE. THE IGNEOUS ROCKS ARE A RESULT OF VOLCANIC ACTION. HOWEVER, IN THE CASE OF VERY OLD MOUNTAINS, YOU’LL FIND METAMORPHIC ROCKS. THESE ARE ROCKS THAT ARE FORMED THROUGH RECRYSTALLIZATION DUE TO HIGH TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURES.

MOUNTAIN BUILDING OCCURS IN THREE STAGES: 1.ACCUMULATION OF SEDIMENTS 2.FOLDING AND UPLIFT (OROGENY) 3.EROSION AND ISOSTATIC REBOUND

THE MAIN MOUNTAIN BUILDING STAGE – FOLDING AND UPLIFT – IS USUALLY DUE TO CONVERGENCE. THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF CONVERGENCE: 1.OCEAN-CONTINENT CONVERGENCE 2.ISLAND ARC-CONTINENT CONVERGENCE 3.CONTINENT-CONTINENT CONVERGENCE 4.OCEAN-OCEAN CONVERGENCE

OCEAN-OCEAN CONVERGENCE CAN CREATE ISLAND ARCS. YOU CAN THINK OF ISLANDS AS MOUNTAINS THAT RISE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN.

OCEAN-CONTINENT PLATE BOUNDARY

CONTINENT-CONTINENT PLATE BOUNDARY THIS TYPE OF CONVERGENCE FORMS THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINS.

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS

THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS ARE 100 TO 300 MILES WIDE AND APPROXIMATELY 1500 MILES LONG, EXTENDING FROM ALABAMA TO NOVA SCOTIA. THE HIGHEST PEAK IS MT. MITCHELL AT 6,684 FEET.