Mountains form over many millions of years, and due to the continual movement of the Earth’s plates, they are still being formed. Young mountain ranges are those that have formed in the last 50 million years or so, such as the Himalayas in Asia. Older mountain ranges, such as the Urals in Russia or the Scottish Highlands, were formed many more millions of years ago and have eroded significantly.
It’s true. Mountains are seriously old. They date back millions and millions of years. As for how they formed, it happened over time. For instance, some mountains formed when volcanoes erupted over and over. The lava that spewed from the volcanoes built up over time. And eventually, this formed a mountain. In other cases, mountains formed when two layers beneath the Earth’s crust moved, collided and pushed against each other. This caused the land to crumple and rise up to form the shape of a mountain.
According to most scientists, the oldest mountain range on Earth is called the Barberton Greenstone Belt and is found in South Africa. It’s estimated that the range is at least 3.2 billion (yes, billion!) years old. As for the youngest mountain on Earth? That title goes to the Himalayas in Asia. It’s thought that this range formed about 40 million years ago. Although that’s not exactly what we’d call young!
If you really want to learn more about mountains, it helps to know the features that make up these land masses. The highest point of a mountain is called the peak or summit. And the bottom of the mountain where the ground begins is known as the base. There’s also the snow line. That’s where ice and snow begin to appear on a mountain. Then there’s the gorge, which is a narrow valley between mountains. And while we’re talking mountains, it’s probably worth mentioning that the name for a long group of mountains is called a range. Some mountain ranges can stretch great distances. For instance, the Rocky Mountains extend all the way from Canada to Mexico.
Picture Credit : Google