Mountain Building

You may wish to print a copy of the lecture outline on Deformation of the Earth's Crust (minus the illustrations) and you have two options:

• Microsoft Word if you use that Word Processor or
• A Netscape Document that you can print (use the Left Arrow key to return to this page).
• Or, you may view the Mountain Building power point presentation shown in class.

ReadMe

I hate "blinking text" but it did catch your attention. I am interested in finding out more about you and your backgrounds. Therefore, if you will complete the following Survey after November 14, 2001 but before the last day of class you will earn 10 points.

Chapter Objectives

After reading Chapter Twenty, you should be able to:
1. Define orogenesis and locate major orgenic belts on the Earth today.
2. Explain the ideas of isostacy and crustal uplift.
3. Correlate the types of mountain building with the types of plate boundaries.
4. Explain how material from the asthenosphere is transformed into continental crust.
5. Illustrate how continental crust is accreted to form a large continent.

Introduction

Mountains rise several hundred meters or more above the surrounding landscape. [I suppose that someone has a definition that distinguishes between a hill and a mountain!]. Some mountains are isolated masses - Kilimanjaro volcano, for example, rises to an elevation of about 6000 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level.


Class Notes

Internet Resources

1. Isostacy

   "The process by which the Lithospheric plates, which are "floating" on the Mantle, adjust vertically to achieve an equilibrium (the crust and upper mantle have a uniform density.) Because Oceanic Crust has a higher density than Continental Crust, it adjusts lower into the Mantle. This condition is augmented by the fact that Oceanic Crust is thinner and therefore has less mass to compensate for through buoyant displacement of the Mantle."

2. Volcanoes and Mountain Building

   "..... Stratovolcano or composite cone - a volcano that consists of intermixed layers of lava flows and poorly consolidated volcanic material such as ash and cinders. Stratovolcanos are typically located on continental crust above subducting plates and are easily recognized by their often beautiful symmetrically-shaped cones....."

A Virtual Field Trip to the Grand Tetons

Grand Teton National Park is the destination of more than 3 million vistors a year who are searching for a vacation spot that provides scenic splendor, a varied ecosystem with abundant wildlife, and excellent recreational opportunities. The Teton Range is the focal point of the park, rising more than 7,000 feet above the floor of Jackson's Hole which borders the mountains on the east.

Self-Quiz

Learning about geology from a computer screen is only half as fun as enjoying it in the field!
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Copyright by John C. Butler, July 29, 1995