Formation of Mountains and Volcanoes

Formation of Mountains

Mountains are created over long periods of time by tremendous forces within the Flat Earth. Below the crust there is tremendous pressure due to acceleration, which has created a vast underground ocean of magma within the earth's mantle. Mountains are formed by volcanism, erosion, and disturbances or an uplift in the flat earth's crust.

The Flat Earth's crust is made up of huge slabs called plates, which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. At the Ice Wall there are subduction plates, where the continents recede and recycle. 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 Flat Earth have formed because of enormous collisions between continents.

There are five basic kinds of Flat Earth mountains: Bulge, Crease, Fault-slab, Volatile, and Abrading mountains. These different types of Flat Earth mountain names not only distinguish the physical characteristics of the mountains, but also the mechanisms by which they were formed.

Bulge Mountains are the result of a great amount of melted rock pushing its way up under the earth without folding or faulting resulting in a rounded dome. As the bulge is raised above its surroundings erosion occurs, and as a result of erosion, peaks and valleys are formed.

Crease Mountains are formed when two tectonic plates collided head on, and their edges crumbled, much the same way as a piece of paper folds when pushed together. Examples of crease mountains include Himalayas in Asia, the Alps in Europe and the Andes in South America.

Fault-slab Mountains form when faults or cracks in the earth's crush force some materials or slabs of rock up and others down. Instead of the earth folding over, the flat earth fractures and slabs are stacked. Examples include the Sierra Nevada mountains in North America and the Harz Mountains in Germany.

Volatile Mountains are formed when molten rock, or magma deep within the earth, erupts, and piles upon the surface. Examples of Volatile Mountains include Mount St. Helens in North America and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

Abrading Mountains are mountains that are really plateaus that have worn down from erosion. These types of mountains are remnants of ‘high levels’ of flat land.

Formation of Volcanoes

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in the earth's surface, which allows hot, molten rock, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. Volcanic activity involving the extrusion of rock tends to form mountains or features like mountains over a period of time.

Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are pulled apart or come together. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by "divergent tectonic plates" pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by "convergent tectonic plates" coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the earth's crust (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the African Rift Valley, the Wells Gray-Clearwater Volcanic Field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America and the European Rhine Graben with its Eifel volcanoes.

Volcanoes can be caused by "mantle plumes". These so-called "hotspots" , for example at Hawaii, can occur far from plate boundaries.