P5-+Mountains

= //**MOUNTAINS!**// =

Mountain- large amount of land that rises high above its surroundings. It is a large, steep hill. A mountain range is a group of connected mountains. Basics: Fold Mountains: Fault-Block Mountains: Dome Mountains: Volcanic Mountains: Plateu Mountains: > sea level.
 * A mountain towers above its neighboring landforms.
 * Mountains are found all over the world, including in the ocean.
 * The term mountain can refer to a single peak, a series of mountains called a mountain range, or a whole mountain system that encompasses a group of mountain ranges.
 * Mountains usually have steep, sloping sides and sharp or slightly rounded ridges and peaks.
 * They are usually larger than hills.
 * About 80 per cent of our planet's fresh water originates in the mountains.
 * They make up one-fifth of the world's landscape, and provide homes to at least one-tenth of the world's people.
 * All mountain ecosystems have one major characteristic in common--rapid changes in altitude, climate, soil, and vegetation over very short distances.
 * Mountains are formed by slow but gigantic movements of the earth's crust (the outer layer of the Earth).
 * There are dffernet kinds of mountains. Such as- Fold Mountains (Folded Mountains), Fault-block Mountains (Block Mountains), Dome Mountains, Volcanic Mountains, Plateau Mountains
 * Fold mountains are the most common are fold mountains.
 * Type of mountain.
 * These ranges were formed over millions of years.
 * Fold mountains are formed when two plates collide head on, and their edges crumbled, much the same way as a piece of paper folds when pushed together.
 * These ranges were formed over millions of years.
 * Fold mountains are formed when two plates collide head on, and their edges crumbled, much the same way as a piece of paper folds when pushed together.
 * These mountains form when faults or cracks in the earth's crust force some materials or blocks of rock up and others down.
 * Instead of the earth folding over, the earth's crust fractures (pulls apart).
 * It breaks up into blocks or chunks.
 * Sometimes these blocks of rock move up and down, as they move apart and blocks of rock end up being stacked on one another.
 * Dome mountains are the result of a great amount of melted rock (magma) pushing its way up under the earth crust.
 * Without actually erupting onto the surface, the magma pushes up overlaying rock layers.
 * At some point, the magma cools and forms hardened rock.
 * The uplifted area created by rising magma is called a dome because of looking like the top half of a sphere (ball).
 * The rock layers over the hardened magma are warped upward to form the dome.
 * But the rock layers of the surrounding area remain flat.
 * As the name suggests, volcanic mountains are formed by volcanoes
 * Volcanic Mountains are formed when molten rock (magma) deep within the earth, erupts, and piles upon the surface.
 * Magna is called lava when it breaks through the earth's crust.
 * When the ash and lava cools, it builds a cone of rock.
 * Rock and lava pile up, layer on top of layer.
 * Plateau mountains are not formed by internal activity. Instead, these mountains are formed by erosion.
 * Plateaus are large flat areas that have been pushed above sea level by forces within the Earth, or have been formed by layers of lava.
 * The dictionary describes these as large areas of ‘high levels’ of flat land, over 600 meters above
 * Plateau mountains are often found near folded mountains.
 * As years pass, streams and rivers erode valleys through the plateau, leaving mountains standing between the valleys.
 * The mountains in New Zealand are examples of plateau mountains