This post was republished to IAS Help at 21:00:37 11/01/2010

Global Geography #9 | Study Material::General Studies | IAS Help

Category Global Geography

[ratings] MOUNTAINS Overview A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area Mountains are sometimes referred to by the Greek name: montes or mons (singular) The highest mountain on earth is Mount Everest (8848 m) The highest mountain in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars (21,171 m) Mountains cover 24% of earths land mass The study of mountains is called Orology

Characteristics of mountains Mountains are colder than lower ground because the Sun heats the Earth from the ground up. When the Suns rays travel through the atmosphere and reach the ground, the earth absorbs the heat. In general air closest to the earths surface is warmest Air temperature usually decreases 1-2 C for every 300 m of altitude The flora and fauna in tall mountains tend to be isolated to one particular altitude zone. These isolated ecological systems are called sky islands. The peak shape of mountains is produced by glaciation and erosion through frost action As altitude increases, the atmospheric pressure decreases. Thus, although the percentage of oxygen remains constant (21%), the amount of oxygen decreases. Altitude sickness (aka Acute Mountain Sickness) is caused by lack of oxygen at high altitudes. Altitude sickness can lead to High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) or High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) Availability of oxygen decreases significantly over 3000 m (10,000 ft). for this reason, the cabin altitude in passenger aircraft is kept to 8000 ft Higher altitudes also mean lesser protection to UV radiation

Formation of mountains Mountains are usually produced by the movement of lithospheric plates Major mountains tend to occur along long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries Compressional forces in continental collisions cause the compressed region to thicken and force the upper surface upwards Meanwhile, in order to balance the weight, much of the compressed rock is forced downwards as well, forming deep mountain roots. As a result, mountains form upwards as well as downwards.

Types of mountains Fold Mountains

Formed by the effects of folding on layers within the upper part of the earths crust Fold mountains are generally formed on the less deformed areas adjacent to areas strongly affected by thrust tectonics o Most fold mountains are likely to relative young in geological terms since they will start to erode as soon as they are formed o Examples: Zagros mountains (Iran), Jura mountains (near the Alps i.e. France, Switzerland, Germany) Fault-block mountains o Formed when large areas of bedrock are broken up by faults creating large vertical displacements of continental crust o These mountains are formed by the crust being stretched and extended by tensional forces o The uplifted blocks are called block mountains or horsts. The intervening dropped blocks are called graben, and can form extensive rift valleys o Examples: Vosges (northeast France), Basin and Range (western USA) Volcanic mountains o Isolated mountains produced by volcanoes o Includes small islands that reach great heights beyond the ocean floor o Example: Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) Inselberg (or Monadnock) o They are isolated hills or small mountains that rise abruptly from a surrounding plain o They arise when a rock resistant to erosion is enclosed within a softer rock like limestone. When the limestone erodes away to form the nearby plains, the resistant rock is left behind as an island-mountain o Example: sugarloaf mountain (Brazil), Pilot Mountain (USA)

o o

The Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountain peaks of each of the seven continents The Seven Summits are o Africa: Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania o Antarctica: Vinson Massif British Antarctic Territory o Australia: Kosciuszko Australia o Asia: Mount Everest Nepal, Tibet o Europe: Elbrus Russia o North America: Mount McKinley (Denali) Alaska o South America: Aconcagua - Argentina

Important Mountain ranges in the world Mountain Range Mid ocean ridge Location Length Notes (km) 65,000 Underwater mountain range Longest mountain range in the world Demarcates boundary b/w tectonic plates Consists of seven ridges connected together: Gakkel Ridge, Mid Atlantic, Southwest Indian, Central Indian, Southeast Indian, Pacific Antarctic, East Pacific Rise 7000 Longest continental mountain range Highest mountain range outside Asia

Andes

South America

Rocky Himalayas

North America Asia

4800 3800 Highest mountain range on earth Includes Karakoram, Hindu Kush Separates Indian subcontinent from Tibetan plateau

Great Dividing Australia Range Transantarctic Antarctica Mountains

3700 3500 Serve as division b/w East Antarctica from West Antarctica

Important Mountain peaks in the world Mountain peak Mount Everest K2 (Mt. GodwenAusten) Kangchenjunga Annapurna Aconcagua Mt. Kilimanjaro Mt Erebus Mt Chimborazo Height (m) 8848 8611 Mountain Range Himalayas Karakoram Location Notes

Nepal/ Tibet Highest mountain on earth Pakistan/China Second highest mountain Second highest fatality rate (25%) Nepal/India Nepal Argentina Tanzania Antarctica (Ross Island) Ecuador Highest in India Highest fatality rate (40%) Highest mountain outside Asia Highest volcanic mountain Highest in Africa Southernmost active volcano Point on surface most distant from earths centre

8586 8091 6961 5895 3794 6268

Himalayas Himalayas Andes Kilimanjaro

Andes

Important Mountain ranges in India Mountain range Himalayas Aravalli Location Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat Notes Were extremely tall in ancient times, now completely worn down due to weathering Earliest known fossil of eukaryotes discovered here (1.6 billion years)

Vindhyas

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh

Satpura Sivalik Hills

Eastern Ghats

Western Ghats

Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh Sikkim, Nepal, Uttarakhand, Southernmost and geologically Kashmir, Pakistan youngest of the Himalayan system West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Discontinuous range of Pradesh, Tamil Nadu mountains Older than Western Ghats Gujarat, Maharashtra, 60% of Western Ghats located Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu in Karnataka Rivers from Western Ghats drain 40% of India

Nilgiri Hills Anamalai Hills (Western Ghats) Cardamom Hills (Western Ghats) Southwest Indian Ridge Central Indian Ridge Southeast Indian Ridge

Tamil Nadu Kerala, Tamil Nadu Kerala, Tamil Nadu Indian Ocean Indian Ocean Indian Ocean

One of worlds ten Hottest Biodiversity Spots UNESCO World Heritage Site Under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage Site Under consideration for UNESCO WHS Separates African Plate from Antarctic Plate Boundary between African Plate and Indo-Australian Plate Separates Indo-Australian Plate from Antarctic Plate

Important Mountain peaks in India Mountain peak Kangchenjunga Mountain range Himalayas Location Sikkim Notes Highest peak in India Third highest in the world Highest peak entirely within India Highest peak in India outside the Himalayas Highest peak in the Aravallis

Nanda Devi Anamudi

Himalayas Anaimalai Hills (Western Ghats) Aravalli Hills

Uttarakhand Kerala

Mount Abu

Rajasthan

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