Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source ↗
A landscape with a history.
Formed by the collision between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate, a slower and more oblique collision than India's crash into Asia, but driven by the same basic fold-mountain mechanism.
What makes it remarkable
One of the most geologically studied mountain ranges in the world, given its accessibility and central role in the early development of the science of geology itself.
Another skyline. Another story.
Fold mountains
Himalayas
Began forming approximately 50 million years ago; still actively rising today.
Fold/volcanic, subduction-driven
Andes
Formation began roughly 200 million years ago, with the modern range's major uplift occurring within the last 25 million years.
Fold/uplift
Rocky Mountains
Primary formation (the Laramide orogeny) occurred roughly 80–55 million years ago.