Fold Mountains

Formation:

When plates collide at destructive margins/where destructive boundries used to be.

• when plates collide, sedimentary rocks that have built up between them are folded and forced upwards to form mountains.
• get fold mountains where continental plates & oceanic plates collide (eg Andes)
• also where 2 continental plates collide. (eg Himalayas)
• eg Nazca plates subducts underneath the South American plate
• their moving together has pushed sediment together. This has been pushed upwards to form the Andes.

Human Use Of Fold Mountains:

Farming

• Higher mountains not good for crops, so animals are grazed. eg mountain goats.
• lower slopes used for crops. can be terraced to make this easier.

Mining

• major source of metal ores
• steep slopes make access difficult, so zig-zag roads carved into sides of mountains

Tourism:

• spectacular scenery attracts tourists
• in winter can do skiing, snowboarding & ice climbing
• in summer can do walking & enjoy scenery
• tunnels can be drilled through to…