List_of_longest_mountain_chains_on_Earth

List of longest mountain chains on Earth

List of longest mountain chains on Earth

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The world's longest above-water mountain range is the Andes,[1][2] about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long. The range stretches from north to south through seven countries in South America, along the west coast of the continent: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Aconcagua is the highest peak, at about 6,962 m (22,841 ft).

The Andes range consist of hundreds of mountain peaks.

This list does not include submarine mountain ranges. If submarine mountains are included, the longest is the global mid-ocean ridge system which extends for about 65,000 km (40,000 mi).[3]

Formation

Mountain chains are typically formed by the process of plate tectonics. Tectonic plates slide very slowly over the Earth's mantle, a lower place of rock that is heated from the Earth's interior. Several huge sections of the Earth's crust are impelled by heat currents in the mantle, producing tremendous forces that can buckle the material at the edges of the plates to form mountains. Usually one plate is forced underneath the other, and the lower plate is slowly absorbed by the mantle. Where the two plates pass one another, heated rock from the mantle can burst through the crust to form volcanoes. The movement of the plates against one another can also cause earthquakes.

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See also


References

  1. Windows to Universe The Andes Mountains by: Julia Genyuk. Retrieve 17 November 2008
  2. "What is the longest mountain range on earth?". oceanservice.noaa.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  3. Biodiversity and Conservation
  4. Antarctic Connection The Transantarctic Mountains Archived 15 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine(undated)
  5. Aaron Martin TAM-The Transantarctic Mountains Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieve 4/7/02.
  6. Encyclopædia Britannica.Article-Online|Transantarctic Mountains Retrieve 22 March 2011
  7. "Great Dividing Range". World Mountain Encyclopedia. Peakware. 1998. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  8. Encyclopædia BritannicaGreat Dividing Range

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