Mountain formation
Geological processes that underlie the formation of mountains / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mountain formation refers to the geological processes that underlie the formation of mountains. These processes are associated with large-scale movements of the Earth's crust (tectonic plates).[1] Folding, faulting, volcanic activity, igneous intrusion and metamorphism can all be parts of the orogenic process of mountain building.[2] The formation of mountains is not necessarily related to the geological structures found on it.[3]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Mountain_by_reverse_fault.gif/320px-Mountain_by_reverse_fault.gif)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Lewis_overthrust_fault_nh10f.jpg/640px-Lewis_overthrust_fault_nh10f.jpg)
From the late 18th century until its replacement by plate tectonics in the 1960s, geosyncline theory was used to explain much mountain-building.[4] The understanding of specific landscape features in terms of the underlying tectonic processes is called tectonic geomorphology, and the study of geologically young or ongoing processes is called neotectonics.[5][clarification needed]