Mountains

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order." ~John Burroughs

Fold Mountains
Also called folded mountain belts, these are formed by the processes of plate tectonics:
Plate Tectonics
Scientists discovered that the surface or the Earth is divided into huge plates which move very slowly. The plates may bump into each other (converge) or move apart (diverge). When two plates collide, the older of the two will slip under the other and head down into the earth's mantle. This is known as a subduction zone. If there are continents located above these plates, they crumple and fold, creating a new mountain range. This is how most linear mountain ranges, such as the Andes, were formed. When India collided with Eurasia, the high peaks of the Himalayas were born and actually continue to grow today. Because the Rocky Mountains are not located near a coast and further from the convergent boundary, scientists could not fully explain their formation until a new theory; the flat subduction model.

Fold Mountains

Fault-block Mountains
A result of faults in the earth's crust pushing some chunks of bedrock upwards and others down, these may have a steep front side and a sloping back side. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range in North America is one example of fault-block mountains, but they may be found next to other mountains as well.

Volcanic Mountains
These mountains form when magma erupts and then cools, piling up to form land.
Examples include Mount St. Helens and Mouna Kea and Mouna Loa on Hawaii's Big Island.

Dome Mountains
When large amounts of magma force the overlying rock layers upward, without flowing through them, it creates dome-shaped mountains. The Black Hills in South Dakota are dome mountains.

Resources:
Videos from HowStuffWorks (Discovery)
Plate Tectonics for Kids

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