BY: TUFAIL AHMED MORIO

MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES OF THE WORLD

1: TUFAIL AHMED MORIO (Group Leader) 2K13/GLG/159

2: SADAM HUSSAIN 2K13/GLG/ 126

3: TARIQ CHANNO 2K13/GLG/155

4: INTIZAR HUSSAIN 2K13/GLG/68

5: AHMER SOOMRO 2K13/GLG/18

6: GHULAM MURTAZA 2K13/GLG/54

7: WASEEM BAJKANI 2K13/GLG/213

8: MUNTAZIR MEHDI 2K13/GLG/107

MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES OF THE

WORLD

CONTENT

The Alps The Andes The Himalaya The Rockies The Appalachians The Ruwenzori The Pyrenees The Alborz The Atlas

The Urals The Sierra Nevada The Cascades The Alaska Range The Great Dividing Range The Zagros The Karakoram The Hindu Kush The Brooks Range

THE ALPS

The Alps are the largest mountain system in Europe. They cover parts of southeastern France and northern Italy, most of Switzerland, part of southern Germany, and some of Austria and Yugoslavia.

They are forming an arc some 1200 km (750 mi) long from the Gulf of Genoa to the Danube River at Vienna.

Most travelers consider the towering Alpine peaks, covered with ice and snow, the most magnificent natural sight in Europe.

This chain of mountains swings in a broad arc from near the Mediterranean Sea in France northward to form the border between France and Italy.

The Alps are a complex fold-mountain system. Sedimentary deposits of vast thickness, mainly limestone and dolomite, were laid down in the ancestral Tethys Sea during the Triassic and Jurassic periods.

Subsequently, enormous pressure generated by a collision between the African and Eurasian plates thrust these rock strata upward and northward to form recumbent folds (nappes), which in the process of movement were detached from their roots. The four glaciations of the Quaternary period (beginning about 2.5 million years ago) were of great importance in the sculpturing of the Alps.

MAP OF THE ALPS MOUNTAIN RANGE

THE ANDES

The Andes Mountains are the longest mountain chain in the world. They stretch along the entire west coast of South America from Cape Horn to Panama, a distance of 4,500 miles.

Many Andean peaks rise over 20,000 feet (6,096 m.). It is about 500 miles across the widest part of the range. In Spanish, they are called Cordillera de los Andes, which means Andes Mountain Range.

The southern Andes are less than 10,000 feet (3.048 m.) in elevation near the southern tip of the continent. Farther north, the peaks are higher. Aconcagua (22,841 feet; 6,962 m.), the highest peak in the Americas, and one of the seven summits stands in Argentina, but is only about 65 miles from Santiago, Chile.

The Northern Andes have three ranges of mountains, and most are lower than the mountains to the south.

1. One range runs along the coast through Colombia into Panama.

2. The central range lies between the two narrow valleys of the Cauca River and the Magdalena River.

3. Third part of the Andes includes the famous volcano of Tolima (17,060 feet; 5,200 m.).

The third branch of the northern range runs northeast into Venezuela. Many peaks in the northern Andes reach 15,000 feet (4,572 m.) or more. The highest is Cristobal Colon (18,701 feet; 5,700 m.) in Colombia.

Many of these high mountains are volcanoes. Some of them are active.

Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate to form the Andes.

The name ANDES is believed to have come from ANTI, the Quechuan word for copper. Much of this metal is found in the mountains. The Andes also contain gold, silver, tin, lead, iron, platinum, and quicksilver.

Nazca plate

S.American

The Andes formed during the Cretaceous period (about 138 million to about 65 million years ago) when the Pacific crustal plate began to slowly slide beneath the South American plate, uplifting and folding the sedimentary rocks that comprise the Andes

Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Panama

THE HIMALAYA

The Himalaya Range is the highest mountain system in the world. The name "Himalaya" comes from the Sanskrit language and means "the House of Snow," or "the Snowy Range." It consists of several parallel ranges.

The mountains extend in a 1,500 mile curve across southern Asia from the Pamirs, west of the great bend of the Indus River, eastward to the great bend of the Brahmaputra River. They form a barrier which separates northern India from the plateau of Tibet. Parts of the range are as much as 200 miles wide.

The Himalayas rise in steps from the plains of northern India, which have an elevation of about 1,000 feet (305 m.) above sea level.

Mount Everest (29,035 feet; 8,849 m.), which lies between Tibet and the kingdom of Nepal, is the highest mountain in the world.

The passes that run through the Himalayas are among the highest in the world. Few of the passes are lower than 15,000 or 16,000 feet above sea level. Most of them are covered with snow from November to May and are impossible to cross. Many glaciers form in the high passes.

The mountains extend in a 1,500 mile curve across southern Asia from the Pamirs, west of the great bend of the Indus River, eastward to the great bend of the Brahmaputra River. They form a barrier which separates northern India from the plateau of Tibet. Parts of the range are as much as 200 miles wide.

The Himalayas rise in steps from the plains of northern India, which have an elevation of about 1,000 feet (305 m.) above sea level.

Mount Everest (29,035 feet; 8,849 m.), which lies between Tibet and the kingdom of Nepal, is the highest mountain in the world

The passes that run through the Himalayas are among the highest in the world. Few of the passes are lower than 15,000 or 16,000 feet above sea level. Most of them are covered with snow from November to May and are impossible to cross. Many glaciers form in the high passes.

India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided. Because both these continental landmasses have about the same rock density, one plate could not be subducted under the other

THE ROCKIES

The Rockies are a well-named group of jagged, snow-capped peaks which run through the western part of North America. This chain of mountains extends over 3,000 miles and is almost 1,000 miles wide in some places. They begin in Northern New Mexico and extend as far as northern Alaska. From New Mexico, the mountain range stretches through Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

At the International Border, the part of the range known as the Canadian Rockies passes through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory of Canada. The Rocky Mountain range is part of the Cordilleran chain which reaches from Cape Horn to the Arctic Circle. The Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico and the Andes of South America form the southern part of this chain.

Most of the peaks in this range were formed in a great upheaval of the earth's crust.

The sides of the mountains have been found to contain the fossil skeletons of animals that once lived in the sea, and rocks that were formed in the hot interior of the earth.

In the southern half of the range, there are mountains which were once volcanoes.

Evident signs of volcanic activity are also found in the huge lava sheets of Idaho and the geysers of Yellowstone National Park.

Since the time they were formed, the peaks have been cut into their sharp spires and angled faces by the forces of glaciers. The glaciers hollowed out the valleys between the mountain peaks.

The Rocky Mountains took shape during a period of intense plate tectonic activity that formed much of the rugged landscape of the western United States.

Three major mountain-building episodes reshaped the west from about 170 to 40 million years ago (Jurassic to Cenozoic Periods). The last mountain building event, the Laramide orogeny, (about 70-40 million years ago)

THE ROCKEY MOUNTANIS MAP

THE APPALACHIANS

The Appalachians are the chief mountain system of eastern North America, and the oldest mountains in the United States. They stretch southwestward for about 1,500 miles from Quebec in Canada to central Alabama. The mountains form the eastern continental divide between the rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico.

The chief ranges are: Notre Dame Mountains (Quebec), Green Mountains (Vermont), White Mountains (New Hampshire), Adirondack Mountains (New York), the Alleghenies (Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia), the Blue Ridge Mountains (North Carolina), the Cumberland (Virginia and Tennessee), the Black Mountains (North Carolina) and the Great Smoky Mountains (Tennessee and North Carolina).

There are more than 40 peaks over 6,000 feet (1,829 m.). The chief peaks of the range include Mount Washington in New Hampshire (6,288 feet; 1,916 m.), Clingmans Dome in Tennessee (6,642 feet; 2,024 m.) and the highest peak of the entire system, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina (6,684 feet; 2,037 m.), which is also the highest point east of the Mississippi River.

Rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean have cut many valleys with steep sides, especially in the central part of the range. Geographers call these valleys water gaps or wind gaps, depending upon whether or not a river runs through them.

THE APPALACHIANS MOUNTAINS MAP

The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period and once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were eroded.

THE RUWENZORI

The Ruwenzori (formerly spelled Ruwenzori) is a spectacular mountain range located in Africa on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The range is not volcanic but consists of crystalline rock that moved upward from the earth's crust.

The range is only 80 miles long but contains one of the most dramatic diversities of ecosystems in the world, for here within just a few miles from each other are the heat of tropical jungles and the cold of glacial ice.

Finally, above 14,500 feet and reaching to Margherita Peak at 16,763 feet (5,109 m.) the highest point in the range, atop Mount Stanley, the Rwenzori mountains are wrapped in permanent snow and storm-swept glaciers.

Finally, above 14,500 feet and reaching to Margherita Peak at 16,763 feet (5,109 m.) the highest point in the range, atop Mount Stanley, the Rwenzori mountains are wrapped in permanent snow and storm-swept glaciers. The first known ascent of the highest peak was made by Luigi di Savoia, the Duke of Abruzzi, accompanied by J. Petigax, C. Ollier and J. Brocherel, in 1906. 

Unlike the higher peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya, the Rwenzori Mountains are a fault block mountain range that has formed due to the rifting that has taken place in East Africa over the past 10 million years.

Most of the rocks of the range are metamorphic in nature, largely gneisses in the northern and southern parts of the range, and a metamorphosed igneous rock, amphibolite, among the high central peaks. 

THE RWENZORI MAP

THE PYRENEES

The Pyrenees is a chain of mountains that forms a natural barrier between France and Spain. They extend from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea, a distance of about 270 miles. They cover an area of over 20,000 square miles. Their average height is only 3,500 ft. (1067 m.), but many peaks in the central ranges rise to over 10,000 feet above sea level.

Glacier fields are found on the northern slopes of the mountains. Minerals found in these mountains include iron, lead, silver and cobalt.

Some 500 million years ago the region now occupied by the Pyrenees was covered with the folded mountains created during the Paleozoic era, called the Hercynian, of which the Massif Central, in France and the Meseta, in Spain are but two remnants. Although these other massifs have had a comparatively quiet history of internal deformation, or tectonism, since their emergence, the Pyrenean block was submerged in a relatively unstable area of the Earth’s crust that became active about 225 million years ago.

THE PYRENEES MAP

THE ALBORZ

The Alborz (or Elburz) is a range of mountains in northern Iran. The range is almost 600 miles long, and varies in width from about 19 to 81 miles, and is located south of the Caspian Sea. The highest mountain in the range located in northern Iran is Mount Damavand at 18,406 ft. (5,610 m).

The mountains consist mostly of limestone with lava beds and volcanic tuff.

The Alborz mountain range forms a barrier between the south Caspian and the Iranian Plateau.

It is only 60–130 km wide and consists of sedimentary series dating from Upper Devonian to Oligocene, prevalently Jurassic Limestone over a granite core.

Continental conditions regarding sedimentation are reflected by thick Devonian sandstones and by Jurassic shales containing coal seams. Marine conditions are reflected by Carboniferous  and Permian strata that are composed mainly of limestone.

THE ATLAS

The Atlas Mountains are a range extending 1,500 miles across northwestern Africa. They run from Cape Guir on the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Bon on the Mediterranean Sea. The range crosses part of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. These mountains were named after Atlas, the Greek Titan.

The basement rocks of most of Africa was formed in the Precambrian and is much older than the Atlas mountains lying in Africa.

The Atlas formed during three subsequent phases of Earth's history.

The first tectonic deformation phase involves only the Anti-Atlas, which was formed in the Paleozoic Era (~300 million years ago) as the result of continental collions.

THE URALS

The Ural Mountains extend for 1,500 miles in a north-south direction, from the Arctic Ocean to near the Aral Sea. Old map makers used this range to mark the continental boundary between Europe and Asia.

The Ural Mountains are probably the richest mountain range of their size in the world.

These mountains are remarkable in the variety and amount of mineral wealth which they contain.

Salt, silver and gold have been mined here since the 1500s. By the 1800s, the Ural region was famous for its gems and semiprecious stones, which include emerald, beryl, amethyst, topaz and sapphire.

Today, mining activities produce coal, iron, copper, gold, platinum, silver, nickel, aluminum, manganese, lead, zinc, magnesium, chromium, potash, salt, building stone, talc, diamonds, and soapstone.

THE URALS MOUNTAINS RANGE MAP

THE SIERRA NEVADA

The Sierra Nevada is a huge uplifted and tilted granite mountain range which extends north and south for 400 miles in eastern California. Its highest point is Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet (4,421 m.).

This range consists mostly of Fault-block mountains. 

Erosion by glaciers has exposed the granite and formed the light-colored mountains and cliffs that make up the range

THE CASCADES

The Cascades are a chain of mountains that extend from northern California through western Oregon and Washington State, into southern British Columbia.

The mountains are made up of lava and volcanic materials. Many of the peaks are "extinct" or "dormant" volcanoes

Lassen Peak and Mount St. Helens are the only "active" volcanoes in the United States outside of Alaska and Hawaii.

THE ALASKA

The Alaska Range is the largest mountain chain in Alaska. It curves across south central Alaska for 400 miles, from the Alaska Peninsula to the Yukon Territory. The mountains trap a great deal of moisture moving northwards from the Gulf of Alaska, thus producing tremendous amounts of rain and heavy snowfall.

Alaska is home to majestic mountains, glaciers, active volcanoes, huge tracks of forested land and some of the planet's most varied extremes of cold, heat, rain, snow and wind. 

THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE

The Great Dividing Range of Australia is so called because it forms a watershed. Rivers on the east side flow from the highlands toward the Pacific Ocean; on the west side they flow toward the central lowlands. In southern New South Wales and Eastern Victoria are the Australian Alps, the continent's tallest mountains. Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak, rises to a height of 7,316 feet (2,230 m.).

Petroleum resources, coal resources, uranium and thorium resources, geothermal energy, renewable energy resources, basin geology. The highest mountains on the Australian mainland are in the Snowy part of the Great Dividing Range separating the central lowlands from the eastern highlands.

THE ZAGROS

The Zagros Mountain range stretches south and west from the borders of Turkey and Russia to the Persian Gulf, and is Iran's largest mountain range.

The range is about 932 miles long and stretches from northeastern Iraq, to the Strait of Hormuz.

Many peaks are higher than 9,800 ft. (2,987 m.). The tallest mountain is Zard-Kuh at an elevation of 14,922 ft. (4,548 m.).

This range consists of folded mountains made up mostly of limestone and dolomite.

ZAGROS RANGE MAP

THE KARAKORAM

The Karakoram is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan), Ladakh (India), and Xinjiang (China). It is actually the northwestern extension of the Himalaya.

This range is home to many peaks over five miles in height, including K2 (Mount Godwin Austen), the second highest peak in the world (8,611 m/28,251 ft.),

The range is about 311 miles in length, and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 44 miles long

THE HINDU KUSH

The Hindu Kush is a chain of mountains in Central Asia extending to the west of the Himalayas. They are part of the boundary between eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.

The name Kush, which means death, was probably given to the mountains because of the dangerous passes between the peaks. Some of these high-altitude passes were used by Alexander the Great and others in their invasions of India. The mountains have permanently glaciated peaks and little vegetation.

 It is 800 km long mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.

It has the height about 25,230' (7,690 m).

HINDU KUSH MOUNTAINS MAP

THE BROOKS RANGE

The Brooks Range in northern Alaska is the northernmost section of the Rocky mountains and the highest mountain range in the Arctic Circle. This range (named for USGS geologist Alfred Hulse Brooks) runs east to west across the state about 200 miles south of the Arctic Ocean.

The Brooks Range is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some 1100 km from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory.

THE BROOKS RANGE MAP

1. A simplified timeline of events comprises:

2. (1) Devonian extension.3. (2) Mississippian extension and Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization.4. (3) a passive interval.5. (4) pre-Brooks Range orogeny rock-formation and thermal event. 6. (5) inception of Brooks Range orogeny.7. (6) exhumation and the end of main-stage deformation.8. (7) subsequent episodic deformation.

This compilation is supplemented by new 40Ar/39Ar dates of white mica from the Anarraaq and Red Dog Zn-Pb-Ag (+ barite) deposits from the western Brooks Range.

The deposits are hosted in black shale and carbonate rocks of the Late Mississippian-Early Pennsylvanian Kuna Formation.

Quartz-pyrite-white mica grains in sedimentary rocks above the Anarraaq deposit yield an age of 195.0 ± 2.0 Ma, and paragenetically late quartz-pyrite-white mica from the Main orebody at the Red Dog deposit has an age of 126.1 ± 0.7 Ma. These white micas are much younger than the age of Zn-Pb-Ag mineralization at Red Dog (338 ± 5.8 Ma Re-Os age of pyrite). 

Aims & Objectives The mountains are forming due to the plates

movement.

Some mountains are forming due to volcanic activity.

The mountains they shows the geological time

and formation.

The mountains are like a book of history which tells us the history of earth.

THE ENDTHE END