NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc.: Folded Mountains

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Must-Know in Geomorphology

Folded mountains are formed due to folding of crustal rocks by compressive forces generated by endogenetic forces coming from within the earth. Its features

  • They are found in great height;
  • Highest and extensive;
  • The width is less than height;
  • Arrow-like shape;
  • Faults are common cause of mountain uplift and faults in turn are due to shrinking of the crust;
  • Fossilsare being found;
  • Highest peaks are found in folded mountains;
  • Folded mountains are the youngest on the surface of the earth;
  • Basically found in the form of sedimentary rocks;
  • Have been Phanerozoic formed in long and shallow seas: Geosyncline; (k) Are generally formed in arc shape having one side concave slope and the other convex slope;
  • Are found along the Archean margins of the continents facing ocean; Young Fold Mountains: Himalayas, Alps, Rockies, Andes

Old Fold Mountains

Pennines, Appalachians, Cape Ranges of South Africa, Great Dividing Ranges of A-ustralia.

Oldest: Scotland, Norway. Asia: Himalayas (8848 m) ; Arakana Yoma; Sulaiman; Hindukush; Zagros; Elburz; Pontus; Taurus; Kunlun; Karakoram (8611 m) . Europe: Caucasus (5630m) ; Balkan; Carpethian; Alps (4810m) ; Dinaric Alps;

  • mass by a few 100 m. , for eg. , Western Patlands of Ranchi and Palamu (India) -Jharkhand;
  • Due to the deposition of the lava (volcanic) , e. g. , Dexcan trap, Entream of Ireland Columbian plateau (USA) , Mahabalsstuvar and Panch gani. It is formed due to depo sition of basaltic lava;
  • Due to the adjoining areas which are not folded, but are raised during the process of mountain building, eg. , Cumber-land plateau to the west of Apalachian mountains;
  • Because of the marginal sediment of geo-syncline are folded into parallel ranges, eg. , Tibetan plateau between Kunlun and Tienshan, and Himalayas, Iranian plateau between Zagros and Elbruz mountains, Anatolian plateau between Pontus and Taurus mountains (Turkey) ;
  • Erosional or dissected plateau: thick deposits of loose materials of wind also form plateau. Loess plateau of China is the best example. Classification of plateaus: There are ten types of plateaus. According to mode of origin: Simple plateau & complex plateau

Plateaus Formed by Exogenetic Factor

It is of three types:

Glacial plateau: Examples are - Garhwal plateau, Greenland plateau, Marg of Kashmir;

Aeolian plateau: Examples are - Potwar (Pak) and Loess (China) plateaus

Fluvial plateau: It is formed due to the rivers. Examples are - Bhandar, Kashmir, Rewa, Rohtas and Panna plateaus;

Plateaus Formed by Endogenetic Factors

It is of the following types:

Intermontane plateau: Features of these plateau are:-Highest and most extensive plateau on the globe; -It is caused by upwarping of the middle portion of geosyn-cline, known as median mass; Example: Tibetan plateau: highest (5000 m) and most extensive (20,64, 000 sq. km.) plateau of the world. It is also called the ‘roof of the world’ . It is surrounded by:-Kunlun mountain: North -Himalayas: South -Kunlun and Himalayas: West -Chinese mountain: East Many rivers originate from this plateau in different directions:-Southern plateau region: Indus and Brahmaputra rivers; -Eastern plateau region: Hwangho, Yangtze, Salween and Mekong rivers; -Northeast plateau region: Tsaidan swamps. [NOTE: The endogenetic forces cause high mountains than exogenetic forces.] Mexican plateau: It is surrounded; by: West: Sierra Madre Occidental Mt. range; East: Sierra Madre Oriental Mt. range; The average height near Mexico city is 2250 m (7410 ft.) and decreases to 1216 m. (4000 ft.) near the international border with USA. Plateau of Bolivia and Peru (South America) : The Peruvian plateau is surrounded by Cordilera Central ranges and Cordillera Occiden-tal ranges in the east and west respectively. The average height is 3648 m. (from sea-level, 12000 ft.) . LakeTiticaca, a fresh water lake, comes out of it.

Gobi plateau in Asia Iranian and Tarin basin Columbian plateau Great basin

Piedmont plateau: It is formed at the foot hillzone of extensive mountains.