Himalayas are what type of mountains

In India it extends in the east from the borders of Myanmar to where the Indus divides it from the Hindukush and Karakoran ranges, covering a distance of about km. The Himalayas consist of three parallel ranges, the Greater Himalayas known as the Himadri, the Lesser Himalayas called the Himachal, and the Shivalik hills, which comprise the foothills.

Mount Everest at a height of m is the highest peak followed by the Kanchanjunga at m. The highest mountain wholly in India is the Nandadevi, at a height of a little less than m.

Millions of years ago the Indian subcontinent was separated from the mainland by a large sea known as the Tethys. As it hit the Asian continent the bed of the Tethys sea was pushed upwards and the Himalayas emerged. The evidence of this is seen in the fossils of sea animals found at ft and above.

Three great rivers of the world have their source in the Himalayas, namely the Ganga, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra.

These rivers are the lifeline of India, providing water to millions of people and irrigating thousands of hectares of land. D ue to the changes in temperature as one climbs higher, there is a diverse range of flora and fauna making it a virtual heaven for naturalists. Geologists primarily categorize folds by their shape—do they have sharp turns or gentle curves? Are the folds convex or concave? A fold mountain usually displays more than one type of fold.

Anticlines and synclines are the most common up-and-down folds that result from compression. A syncline is a U-shape, with the youngest rocks in the center of the fold.

Domes and basins are often considered types of folds. A dome is a series of symmetrical anticlines, roughly shaped like half a sphere. Like an anticline, the oldest rocks in a dome are found in the center. Like a syncline, a basin has its youngest rocks in its center. Also called a thrust sheet. Also called lithospheric plate. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

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You cannot download interactives. The rock cycle is a web of processes that outlines how each of the three major rock types—igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary—form and break down based on the different applications of heat and pressure over time. For example, sedimentary rock shale becomes slate when heat and pressure are added. The more heat and pressure you add, the further the rock metamorphoses until it becomes gneiss. If it is heated further, the rock will melt completely and reform as an igneous rock.

Empower your students to learn about the rock cycle with this collection of resources. These tectonic plates rest upon the convecting mantle, which causes them to move. The movements of these plates can account for noticeable geologic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and more subtle yet sublime events, like the building of mountains.

Teach your students about plate tectonics using these classroom resources. Weathering is the process of the weakening and breakdown of rocks, metals, and manmade objects.

There are two main types of weathering: chemical and physical. An example of chemical weathering is acid rain. Caused mostly by the burning of fossil fuels, acid rain is a form of precipitation with high levels of sulfuric acid, which can cause erosion in the materials in which it comes in contact. An example of physical weathering is wind blowing across the desert playas. This process causes rocks to form a specific pyramid-like shape and they are called ventifacts. Select from these resources to teach about the process of weathering in your classroom.

Metamorphic rocks start as one type of rock and—with pressure, heat, and time—gradually change into a new type of rock. In , after decades of tediously collecting and mapping ocean sonar data, scientists began to see a fairly accurate picture of the seafloor emerge. The Tharp-Heezen map illustrated the geological features that characterize the seafloor and became a crucial factor in the acceptance of the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift.

Today, these theories serve as the foundation upon which we understand the geologic processes that shape the Earth. The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the earth sciences by explaining how the movement of geologic plates causes mountain building, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom.

Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. The Alps are fold mountains, the most common mountain type on Earth. Photograph by James P. Blair, National Geographic. Foreland Basins. Fold mountains sometimes are characterized by foreland basins, depressions that run parallel to the mountain range. The Erbo Basin, in northern Spain, is a foreland basin that formed with the Pyrenees, a fold mountain chain created by the continental collision of the microcontinent of Iberia with the massive Eurasian plate.

The Persian Gulf is a foreland basin that formed with the Zagros Mountains, a fold mountain chain created by the continental collision of the Arabian and Iranian tectonic plates. Also called a collision zone.