Mountain ranges: definition and description

Mountain ridges are a major uplift of the relief. They, as a rule, have an elongated shape with a length of hundreds of kilometers. Each ridge has the highest point, the top, expressed in the form of an acute tooth - a mountain ridge. Form and height are formed depending on the lithological composition and development of the constituent rocks. These aspects also affect the extent of this relief education.

First, let's study the main parts of the ridge and their features.

Mountain crest: definition

A mountain ridge is an acute connection or intersection of slopes. Some of them have a particularly acute form, called knives. The ridges differ in shape, stand out: sharp, jagged, sawtooth and rounded. The distance from the earth to the top of the ridge can reach from hundreds of meters to several kilometers. It is this zone that is the site of the formation of rockfalls, the collapse of snow cornices and the beginning of avalanches.

What are passes?

Each crest of which the mountain ranges are composed has a certain part where a relatively smooth lowering of the relief occurs. It is called a pass. These places are most convenient for making transitions. The passes are distinguished by origin: erosion, tectonic and glacial. The first arise in connection with the rapprochement of the river channels, the second - due to the individual lowering of the mountain ridge, the third are formed by the destruction of the carvings, depressions in the form of a bowl, located in the summit of the slopes of the mountains. The deepest and gentle mountain passes were called the "mountain pass". In them people lay pedestrian and even automobile roads.

Axial line of the ridge

On the crest passes the axial line of the ridge, which cartographers depict on charts and maps. This line is more straightforward, with rare weakly expressed bends.

But you can not call the mountain ridges equal, associating them with a straight line. Often they have branches off their main axis. These are lower, secondary ridges, which gradually decrease as they approach the periphery. Such "branches" are called spurs.

Classification

The most interesting relief on the planet is the mountains. The mountain range is not an isolated unit, they are often in direct interaction with each other, thus forming mountain chains and mountain systems.

Mountain systems - a set of mountain ranges, arrays, chains, forming a single structure. All these components have a common origin and, as a rule, uniform morphological features. The systems are formed by one of the types of mountains - volcanic, blocky, folded, etc. Within them, mountain nodes and mountain ranges often occur.

Mountain knots are the junctions or intersections of several mountain ranges, which are distinguished by a complex orography and are an isolated part. As a rule, they are difficult to reach and high.

The mountain chain is the mountain ranges that have risen in the column, forming a single and almost continuous line. They are separated by depressions of the general massif and can consist of heterogeneous types of mountains.

Slides between ridges are called mountain valleys. They come in different forms - longitudinal, floodplain, V-shaped, several kilometers long. The valleys are formed under the influence of mechanical effects of glaciers and mountain rivers.

Let's sum up the results

The shape of the ridge, its extent, height - morphological features. They depend on when it began to form, from the history of development, the number of mechanical impacts on rocks and the rocks of which it consists. By the time period the process of formation takes more than one hundred years.

Having read the information on the mountain ranges, each student can not only define what it is, but also tell in detail what they consist of, how they are formed and classified.