Mountain Building
What is the geologic process of mountain building called?
Orogeny
What theory explains the movement of Earth’s lithospheric plates?
Plate tectonic theory
What are complex mountains made up of?
Folded, faulted, and uplifted rocks
What type of rock forms from heat and pressure?
Metamorphic rock
Which mountain range is located along the eastern United States?
Appalachian Mountains
What type of plate boundary creates most major mountain ranges?
Convergent plate boundary
What layer of Earth do tectonic plates move on?
The asthenosphere
Why are complex mountains difficult to study?
They have experienced multiple tectonic events.
What is a fold?
A bend in rock layers caused by compression.
Which mountain range stretches along western North America?
Rocky Mountains
What type of stress causes rocks to fold into mountains?
Compressional stress
What process occurs when one plate sinks beneath another?
Subduction
What is uplift?
The upward movement of Earth’s crust.
What is a fault?
A fracture in Earth’s crust where movement has occurred.
Which mountain range is considered the tallest above sea level?
Himalayas
What happens when two continental plates collide?
They crumple and form large mountain ranges.
Which type of crust is more likely to subduct?
Oceanic crust
What is a terrane?
A piece of crust with a different geologic history that becomes attached to a continent.
What type of deformation permanently changes a rock’s shape?
Ductile deformation
Which ancient mountain range has been heavily eroded over millions of years?
Appalachian Mountains
Which mountain range formed from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates?
The Himalayas
What force inside Earth helps drive plate motion?
Mantle convection
Which U.S. mountain range contains many accreted terranes?
The North American Cordillera
What type of deformation causes rocks to break instead of bend?
Brittle deformation
What supercontinent’s breakup influenced many of today’s mountain belts?
Pangaea