The information for the following story is from Reading in the Content Areas: Social Studies, Scholastic Canada's Atlas of the World, and the following Internet site accessed 04/05/03: http://evolution.itgo.com/canada_geology/highlands.html

Words to Preview volcanic differently Appalachian Mountains Innutian Mountains Western Cordillera erosion

 

To the top of the Mountain

Have you ever seen a mountain? Have you ever wondered how a mountain is formed?

There are four types of mountains. They are folded mountains, dome mountains, block mountains, and volcanic mountains. Each one is given its name according to the way it is formed.

Take a minute and guess how a folded mountain is formed. A folded mountain is formed when pressure causes the rock layers to fold or wrinkle.

The Rocky Mountains were made this way.

What shape do you think dome mountains are? Dome mountains are also created from pressure on the Earth's crust, and they are shaped like a blister.

Block mountains are created differently. They are created by breaks in the Earth's crust. The Coast Mountains in British Columbia are block mountains.

Volcanic mountains are built in an interesting way. They are created by piles of cooled ashes, lava, and cinders that came through the surface of the Earth. Most volcanic mountains are shaped like an upside down ice cream cone with a hole in the top.