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Article: BUILDING MOUNTAINS BY WEARING THEM DOWN.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Rocks & Minerals
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MANY MOUNTAIN RANGES (such as the Himalayas) mark zones of intense tectonic activity, be it recent or ancient. Geologists have long studied mountains for clues to Earth's tectonic history. Such mountain belts, it was commonly thought, were shaped by relatively brief but intense episodes of tectonic activity followed by long periods of slow erosion. Some recent investigations, however, confirm that erosion and tectonics work together: to build up mountain ranges.
Erosion
Erosion usually brings to mind soil being washed off a farm field following heavy rainfall. But erosion is much more ubiquitous and has far-reaching effects on the shape of Earth. In ...