Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The World's Tallest Mountain

At 29,029ft (8,848m) Everest is the uppermost mountain in the world, but measured from top to bottom, under sea level, Mauna Kea beats Everest by 4436 ft. (over 3/4 of a mile).

Although Mount Everest, at 29,029 feet high, is often called the tallest mountain; Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii is in fact taller. Only 13,796 feet of Mauna Kea stands on top of sea level, however, if you measure it from its base, which is under sea level, it is 33,465 feet. If you stand Mauna Kea and Mount Everest next to every other, Mount Kea would be 4400 feet taller

Monday, August 4, 2008

Plateau Mountains

Plateau Mountains take place in series when the folds of a mountain chain pass suddenly into the horizontal stratum of a basalt plateau that is mainly denuded of trees and eroded. These topographic forms are, however, really Pseudo Mountains that are produced by the erosion of a plateau

Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve, at the southern lean of Kananaskis Country, is similar to nowhere else in Alberta. Its broad wind-swept peak supports a remarkable diversity of wildflowers and geological features, with dramatic vistas across the mountains and foothills.

Status

* Plateau Mountain was recognized as an Ecological Reserve in December 1991.

* Ecological Reserves are 'representative or special usual landscapes and features of the region, which are secluded as examples of functioning ecosystems, as gene pools for research, and for education and heritage approval purposes.

* Ecological Reserves give limited opportunities for outdoor recreation and environmental tourism, where they are well-matched with the defense objective.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Volcanic Mountains

Volcanic Mountains are shaped when molten rock or magma deep inside the earth, erupts, and loads upon the surface. Examples of Volcanic Mountains comprise Mount St. Helens in North America and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

Volcano


A volcano is a physical landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the earth's interior made molten or liquid by high pressure and temperature) erupts through the outside of the planet.

In simple terms a volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock underneath the surface of the earth. It is a gap in the Earth from which molten rock (magma) and gas explode.

As pressure in the molten rock builds up it wants to escape somewhere. So it forces its way up “fissures” which are narrow cracks in the earths crust. Once the magma erupts through the earth’s surface it is called lava.

Lava

Lava is fluid rock (magma) that flows out of a volcano. Fresh lava ranges from 1,300° to 2,200° F (700° to 1,200° C) in temperature and glows red hot to white burning as it flows.

Magma


Magma is liquid rock within a volcano.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Fault-Block Mountains and Valleys

1 A fault is a break in a rock. We usually associate faults with earthquakes. But did you know that faults can also form mountains?

2 Mountains are created by processes called orogeny. This process typically takes place close to plate boundaries. Actions at these boundaries place strain and tension on the crustal rocks. They are distorted by folding and faulting. Mountains are classified by the method they are formed.

3 Tensions at plate limits often shape faults in the earth's crust. There are dissimilar types of faults. Usual faults are caused by horizontal tension. Part of the crust is uplifted, and part of it moves down. This happens at the line where the rock is out of order, called the fault plane. In an area where there are many faults, mountain ranges can appearance. These mountains are called fault-block Mountains.

4 Fault-block mountains frequently occur where plates are moving apart. The movement causes the rocks to be prolonged. Temperatures are low and the rocks are fragile. In its place of folding, they break into big blocks.

5 Faulting causes a number of sections of the rock to be uplifted. These are called horsts. A horst is a division of the earth's crust that lies between two faults. It is higher than the nearby land.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Block Mountains


Fractures in the Earth's surface, a procedure referred to as taphrogeny, result in formation of fault-block mountains.

If there are two similar faults, the crustal block between them may either rise to produce horst-block Mountain or fall to make a rift valley.

A fallen block is recognized as a graben. The term block mountain may be practical to skewed fault-block and complex faulted uplands.

Block Mountains be in countries like Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, anywhere they appearance basin-and-range landscapes.

Uplifted blocks may have younger casing formations stripped off them, leaving relict landforms as in the Harz and Black Forest terrains of Germany and in the Massif Central of France.




Monday, July 28, 2008

Fold Mountains


Fold mountains are really formed by outside which have been uplifted and folded by compressional forces. This occurs along convergent plate limitations where 2 plates shift towards each other, between continental plates or between a sea and a continental plate. The crust and the rocks get bent and wrinkled, and massive layers of Earth's crust gets uplifted as a result, forming stunning fold mountains.

More well-know examples of Fold Mountains are the Himalayas in Asia and the Andes in South America.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Dome Mountains


Dome Mountains are the result of a great quantity of melted rock approaching its way up under the earth without failure or faulting resulting in a rounded dome. As the dome is raised above its surroundings erosion occurs, and as an effect of erosion, peaks and valleys are formed.

Geological features comprise anything from major landforms such as mountains or plateaus, to ripple script or glacial striations on a rock. The physical processes, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, erosion, and deposition are what make or change geological features.

Mountains are main geological features on the outside of the Earth. Depending on what physical processes created these landforms, mountains can be confidential as different types: volcanic, dome, fold, and fault block. Utah has all four types.

Dome Mountains can be fashioned from hot molten material (magma) increasing from the Earth's mantle into the coating that pushes overlying sedimentary rock layers up to form a "dome" shape. Unlike a volcano, the magma classically does not reach the Earth's surface. Instead, the magma cools under the surface and forms the core of the mountains. Dome Mountains in Utah include Navajo Mountain and the La Sal, Abajo, and Henry Mountains in the southeastern division of the state.