⛰️ MOUNTAIN BUILDING
PAGE 1 OF 5, PLATES CRASH UPWARD
PRESSURE
WHEN PLATES CRASH, LAND RISES
Earth's surface is broken into huge pieces called tectonic plates. When two plates push into each other, the land in between can buckle and rise. That slow squeeze builds tall mountains over a very long time. You cannot watch a mountain pop up in one day. The crash is powerful, but the rise is patient. Fold mountains grow where colliding plates force rock upward into the sky.
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
The Himalayas are still rising because the Indian Plate keeps pushing into the Eurasian Plate.
CRASH!
BUCKLE
🪨 When plates squeeze hard, rock layers can bend and wrinkle like a soft rug.
⬆️ Those upward folds become the beginnings of tall mountain peaks.
⬆️ Those upward folds become the beginnings of tall mountain peaks.
SQUEEZE
💥 Colliding plates push with enormous pressure deep under the ground.
⛰️ That pressure forces land to rise high instead of staying flat.
⛰️ That pressure forces land to rise high instead of staying flat.