Mountain - Major types of mountain belts

mountain

Table of Contents

Introduction
Geomorphic characteristics
Tectonic processes that create and destroy mountain belts and their components
- Mechanisms that support elevated terrains
- Tectonic processes that produce high elevations
  - Volcanism
  - Crustal shortening
  - Heating and thermal expansion
- Tectonic processes that destroy elevated terrains
Major types of mountain belts
- Mountain belts associated with volcanism
  - Mid-ocean ridges and rises
  - Volcanic structures along subduction zones
  - Landforms associated with hot spot volcanism
- Mountain belts associated with crustal shortening
  - Alpine- (or Himalayan-)type belts
  - Andean-type belts
  - Intracontinental mountain belts
Major mountain belts of the world
- The Circum-Pacific System
  - The Andes
  - The Caribbean chains
  - The North American Cordillera
  - Volcanoes and island arcs surrounding the northwest Pacific basin
- The Alpine-Himalayan, or Tethyan, System
  - The Himalayan chain
  - The Zagros and Bitlis mountains
  - The western segment of the system
- Residual mountain ranges and thermally uplifted belts
Selected world mountains

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Mountain belts differ from one another in various respects, but they also have a number of similarities that enable Earth scientists to group them into certain distinct categories. Each of these categories is characterized by the principal process that created a representative belt. Moreover, within individual belts different tectonic processes can prevail and can be associated with quite different landforms and topography. Thus, for any category there are exceptions and special cases, as well as subdivisions. Volcanoes typically form in any of three tectonic settings. At the axes of the mid-ocean ridge system where lithospheric plates diverge, volcanism is common; ...(100 of 11921 words)

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