Task: Question Generation
Input (English): Converging plates create the worlds largest mountain ranges. Each combination of plate types continent- continent, continent-ocean, and ocean-ocean creates mountains. Two converging continental plates smash upwards to create gigantic mountain ranges (Figure 1.1). Stresses from this uplift cause folds, reverse faults, and thrust faults, which allow the crust to rise upwards. As was stated previously there is currently no mountain range of this type in the western U.S., but we can find one where India is pushing into Eurasia. (a) The worlds highest mountain range, the Himalayas, is growing from the colli- sion between the Indian and the Eurasian plates. (b) The crumpling of the Indian and Eurasian plates of continental crust creates the Himalayas. Subduction of oceanic lithosphere at convergent plate boundaries also builds mountain ranges. This happens on continental crust, as in the Andes Mountains (Figure 1.2), or on oceanic crust, as with the Aleutian Islands, which we visited earlier. The Cascades Mountains of the western U.S. are also created this way. The Andes Mountains are a chain of con- tinental arc volcanoes that build up as the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South American Plate. Amazingly, even divergence can create mountain ranges. When tensional stresses pull crust apart, it breaks into blocks that slide up and drop down along normal faults. The result is alternating mountains and valleys, known as a basin-and-range (Figure 1.3). In basin-and-range, some blocks are uplifted to form ranges, known as horsts, and some are down-dropped to form basins, known as grabens. (a) Horsts and grabens. (b) Mountains in Nevada are of classic basin-and-range form. Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL:
Output (English): the indian plate and eurasian plate converge to make this mountain range.