Andes
Mountain: The world’s largest mountain ranges
The south face of Aconcagua, the
highest peak in South America, at 22,841 feet (6,962 meters) above sea level.
The Andes is the longest mountain range in the world and
boasts some of the highest peaks. The range is also known for its volcanoes,
ruins of long-ago civilizations. It is continental crust, which became a line
of volcanic mountains. Unlike the Philippines where it was oceanic, and it
created islands. I chose to visit this mountain range from Chile which one of
the countries that it spans and has volcanoes. It located along the entire
western coast of South America, the Andes mountain range is approximated at
4,500 miles (7,242 kilometers) long. Andes mountain range spans seven countries;
Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and Argentina. It’s average
in elevation is estimated at some 13,000 feet (3962 meters), with its highest
elevation Mount Aconcagua in Argentina that measures 22,841 feet above sea
level.
In the creation of the Andes mountain range is from
tensional stress process from the subduction of the Nazca Plate subducts
beneath the South American Plate from about thirty (30) million years ago. The tensional
stresses pull crust apart, and it breaks into blocks that slide up and drop
down along normal faults. The results are alternating mountains and valleys,
known as a basin and range.
It is stated that the sedimentation produces
limestone, sandstone and shales are deposited. While in the lower portion below
the surface the melting point of the mantle that is between the two plates. The
peridotite or ultramafic mantle rock is partially melting in the deformation process,
this also forms the additional basaltic rock and felsic or granitic rich magma
that has help to form the rock structure of the Andes mountain range.
I do believe that folding and faulting
in the orogeny of the Andes mountains to produce the visual effects that are
very evident according to the process explained scientist, these formation act
as visual proof which occurred millions of years before. In addition to there
are many types of fault involve orogenesis, with normal and reverse it easier
to spot based on illustration of simple earth movement, in the case of the Andes
mountain range, it seemed the fault here is the strip slip fault would be the
fault. This can span extremely far for hundreds of kilometers, this would help
to explain why the mountain range son seven countries and falls of at the tip
of the ocean.
References:
Lutgens, F. K.,
& Tarbuck, E. J., Tasa, Dennis. (2018). Essentials of geology 13e. Hoboken,
NJ: Pearson Education.
Lumen; Geology.
(2018). Stress and Strain: Compare and contrast stress versus strain in the
Earth’s crust. Retrieved from: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-geology/chapter/outcome-stress-and-strain/
Jaeger, Peter.
(2018). Plate Boundaries: Convergent, Divergent, and Transform Boundaries. Retrieved
from: https://study.com/academy/lesson/plate-boundaries-convergent-divergent-and-transform-boundaries.html
, Kim Ann. (2013). Andes:
World's Longest Mountain Range. Retrieved from: https://www.livescience.com/27897-andes-mountains.html
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