A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. , a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 meters above the surrounding land.

mountain, landform that rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief. Mountains generally are understood to be larger than hills, but the term has no standardized geological meaning. Very rarely do mountains occur individually. In most cases, they are found in elongated ranges or chains. When an array of such ranges is linked together, it constitutes a mountain belt.

Mountains are huge rocky features of the earth’s landscape. They are formed by tectonic plates moving together and pushing up until tall structures are formed. The world’s mountain ranges are created by the same forces that trigger earthquakes and volcanoes. Rocks that formed on sea floors are packed together and thrust high into the sky. But even as they are being raised, mountains are ground down again by the unstoppable forces of erosion. Sometimes huge amounts of ice and snow break loose and crash down a mountainside. This is called an avalanche. The snow can bury people, and even whole villages, in its path.

Mountains are formed by slow but gigantic movements of the earth's crust (the outer layer of the Earth).

The Earth's crust is made up of 6 huge slabs called plates, which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. When two slabs of the earth's crust smash into each other the land can be pushed upwards, forming mountains. Many of the greatest mountain ranges of the world have formed because of enormous collisions between continents.

There are five basic kinds of mountains:

Fold Mountains (Folded Mountains)

Fault-block Mountains (Block Mountains)

Dome Mountains

Volcanic Mountains

Plateau Mountains

Fold Mountains

Fold Mountains are the most common type of mountain. The world’s largest mountain ranges are fold mountains. These ranges were formed over millions of years.

Fold Mountains are formed when two plates collide head on, and their edges crumbled, much the same way as a piece of paper folds when pushed together.

Fault-block Mountains

These mountains form when faults or cracks in the earth's crust force some materials or blocks of rock up and others down.

Instead of the earth folding over, the earth's crust fractures (pulls apart). It breaks up into blocks or chunks. Sometimes these blocks of rock move up and down, as they move apart and blocks of rock end up being stacked on one another.

Dome Mountains

Dome mountains are the result of a great amount of melted rock (magma) pushing its way up under the earth crust. Without actually erupting onto the surface, the magma pushes up overlaying rock layers. At some point, the magma cools and forms hardened rock. The uplifted area created by rising magma is called a dome because of looking like the top half of a sphere (ball). The rock layers over the hardened magma are warped upward to form the dome. But the rock layers of the surrounding area remain flat.

Volcanic Mountains

As the name suggests, volcanic mountains are formed by volcanoes.

Volcanic Mountains are formed when molten rock (magma) deep within the earth, erupts, and piles upon the surface. Magna is called lava when it breaks through the earth's crust. When the ash and lava cools, it builds a cone of rock. Rock and lava pile up, layer on top of layer.

Plateau Mountains (Erosion Mountains)

Plateau mountains are not formed by internal activity. Instead, these mountains are formed by erosion. Plateaus are large flat areas that have been pushed above sea level by forces within the Earth, or have been formed by layers of lava. The dictionary describes these as large areas of ‘high levels’ of flat land, over 600 meters above

sea level.

Plateau mountains are often found near folded mountains. As years pass, streams and rivers erode valleys through the plateau, leaving mountains standing between the valleys.

The mountains in New Zealand are examples of plateau mountains