Mountains – Types, Formation and Distribution

Published on 31 Jan 2025

• Fold mountains: Formed by the Collision caused by the movement of plates builds up stress resulting in folding and subduction. Seen Along convergent plate boundaries.

• Example: Himalayas, Rockies, Andes, Alps 

• Block Mountains: Formed when a fault is raised or tilted i.e. by the vertical displacement of land. Distributed along conservative boundaries where plates slide past each other.

• Example: Vindhyas, Satpura, Sierra Nevada, Vosges

• Volcanic: Built up from the materials ejected from the fissures of earth’s crust .They falls around the vent and successive layers make a volcanic cone. Distributed along circum-pacific belt.

• Example: Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Mauna kea

• Dome: Formed when magma from mantle rises to crust forcing the top sedimentary rock layers upward. It is seen around world where there were once areas of volcanic activity.

• Example: Black hills of south Dakota ,Weald in England

• Residual mountains: Formed by denudation of historic fold mountains. It can also be formed from plateaus cut down by rivers into hills and valleys.

• Example: Aravallis, Ural

Tags:
Geography

Keywords:
Mountains Types Formation and Distribution of mountains fold mountain block mountain volcanic mountain dome Residual mountain

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 1

Topics:
Physical Geography