Mountain formation

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]

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]}

^ Steven M. Stanley (2004). "Mountain building". Earth system history (2nd ed.). Macmillan. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-7167-3907-4.
^ Robert J. Twiss; Eldridge M. Moores (1992). "Plate tectonic models of orogenic core zones". Structural Geology (2nd ed.). Macmillan. p. 493. ISBN 978-0-7167-2252-6.
^ Ollier, Cliff; Pain, Colin (2000). The Origin of Mountains. Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-415-19890-5.
^ "Geosynclinal Theory". publish.illinois.edu. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved March 8, 2018. The major mountain-building idea that was supported from the 19th century and into the 20th is the geosynclinal theory.
^ Kurt Stüwe (2007). "§4.5 Geomorphology". Geodynamics of the lithosphere: an introduction (2nd ed.). Springer. p. 178. ISBN 978-3-540-71236-7.