Comment: 00:40 - 01:49 (01:09)
Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 7. Mountain Building
Keywords: introduction, mountain, orogeny, crust, uplift, erosion, fault, volcano, plate, "James Sadd"
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Our transcription: The majestic sight of a mountain range is an endless source of wonder and beauty.
To most people, mountains are synonymous with great size and permanence, but are mountains really permanent?
Rivers flow out of nearly every mountain range on earth carrying sand and rock that were eroded from the mountains themselves.
This process would eventually remove the mountains from the landscape unless somehow they were being maintained by uplift.
Mountains are built by tectonic processes that cause portions of the Earth's crust to rise.
These processes are fueled by the escape of heat from the interior of the Earth, causing crustal uplift by volcanic activity and by movement along faults that, in turn, is responsible for the formation of mountains.
Mountain building processes like these are concentrated at the boundaries between tectonic plates and are especially active where the plates are moving apart or converging.
By studying the origin of individual mountain belts, geologists are helping to unravel the tectonic history of our planet.
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Geology School Keywords
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