The Longest Mountain Range What is the longest mountain range in the world? The Answer: The Andes Mountains , which stretch more than 5000 miles through seven South American countries , form the longest mountain range in the world. —The Editors Longest Mountain Ranges Of The World - InfopediaPk - All facts in one site Longest Mountain Ranges Of The World Longest Mountain Ranges In World What Is Meant By Mountain Range? A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain. Other definitions may include a mountain system which is a group of mountain ranges exhibiting certain unifying features, such as similarity in form, structure, and alignment, and presumably originating from the same general causes; esp. a series of ranges belonging to an orogenic belt. A mountain system or system of mountain ranges sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically (regionally) related. Mountain range is divided by highlands or mountain passes and valleys.

Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or fold mountains and may, therefore, be of different rock. Central Andes Andes - Longest Mountain Range The Andes are the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about 7200 km (4,500 mi) long, about 200 km (120 mi) to 700 km (430 mi) wide (widest between 18 degrees South and 20 degrees South latitude), and of an average height of about 4,000 m (13,000 ft). The etymology of the word Andes has been debated. The major consensus is that it derives from the Quechua word anti, which means "high crest". Others believe that Andes comes from Anti Suyu, one of the four regions of the Inca empire. It is more likely however that the word Antisuyo derives from the use of Anti to designate mountain chains.

Derivation from the Spanish andén (in the sense of cultivation terrace) has also been proposed, yet considered very unlikely. Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, which are separated by intermediate depressions. The Andes are the location of several high plateaus some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogotá, Arequipa, Medellín, Sucre, and La Paz. The socalled Altiplano plateau is the world's second-highest plateau following the Tibetan plateau. The Andes extend to seven countries, in alphabetical order: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, some of which are known as the Andean States. The Andes range is the world's highest mountain range outside of the continent of Asia. Their highest peak, Mt. Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about 6,962 m (22,841 ft) above sea level. The peak of Mt. Chimborazo in the Ecuadorean Andes is located at the point on the surface of the Earth that is the most distant one from its center.

This is because of the Earth's equatorial bulge that results from its rapid rotation (far faster than those of Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Ganymede, Titan, or Triton). The world's highest volcanos are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina frontier which rises to 6,893 m (22,615 ft), and over 50 other volcanos that rise above 6,000 m. The Andes can be divided into three sections: The Southern Andes in Argentina and Chile. The Central Andes, including the Chilean and Peruvian cordilleras and parts of Bolivia. The Northern Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador that consist of two parallel ranges, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental. In Colombia, north its the border with Ecuador, the Andes split in three parallel ranges, the western, central, and eastern ranges. (The cordillera occidental, central, and oriental). Moraine Lake, and the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains (or Rockies) are a major mountain range in western North America.

The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet (4,401 m) above sea level. Though part of North America's Pacific Cordillera, the Rockies are distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges (as named in Canada) or the Coast Range (as it is known in the United States) which are located directly adjacent to the Pacific coast, as well as, the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada which lie further inland from the coast. The Rockies were formed from 80 to 55 million years ago by the Laramide orogeny. Since then, erosion by water and glaciers have sculpted the mountain range into dramatic valleys and peaks. At the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. After Europeans, such as Sir Alexander MacKenzie and the Lewis and Clark expedition, started to explore the range, minerals and furs drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the range never became densely populated.

Currently, much of the mountain range is protected by public parks and forest lands, and is a popular tourist destination, especially for hiking, camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, skiing, and snowboarding. The north face of Mount Everest Himalaya - Highest Mountain Range The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains (Sanskrit: literally, "abode of snow") usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of a massive mountain system that includes the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, and other, lesser, ranges that extend out from the Pamir Knot. Together, the Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest, and home to the world's highest peaks, the Eight-thousanders, which include Mount Everest and K2. To comprehend the enormous scale of this mountain range, consider that Aconcagua, in the Andes, at 6,962 metres (22,841 ft) is the highest peak outside Asia, whereas the Himalayan system includes over 100 mountains exceeding 7,200 m (23,622 ft).

Some of the world's major rivers, the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Red River (Asia), Xunjiang, Chao Phraya, Irrawaddy River, Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Tarim River and Yellow River, rise in the Himalayas, and their combined drainage basin is home to some 3 billion people (almost half of Earth's population) in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, People's Republic of China, India, Nepal, Burma, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Pakistan. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia; many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

The main Himalaya range runs west to east, from the Indus river valley to the Brahmaputra river valley, forming an arc 2,400 km (1,491 mi) long, which varies in width from 400 km (249 mi) in the western Kashmir-Xinjiang region to 150 km (93 mi) in the eastern Tibet-Arunachal Pradesh region. The range consists of three coextensive sub-ranges (Great,Middle, with the northernmost, and highest, known as the Great or Inner Himalayas. Physically, the Himalayas forms three parallel zones: the Great Himalayas, the Middle Himalayas (also known as the Inner or Lesser Himalayas), and the Sub-Himalayas, which includes the Siwālik Range and foothills and the Tarāi and Duars piedmont (an area of land formed or lying at the foot of a mountain or mountain range).The Great Himalayas, the highest zone, consists of a huge line of snowy peaks with an average height exceeding 6,100 m (20,000 ft).

The width of this zone, composed largely but not entirely of gneiss and granite, is about 24 km (about 15 mi). Spurs from the Great Himalayas project southwards into the Middle Himalayas in an irregular fashion. The Nepal and Sikkim (a state of northern India) portion of the Great Himalayas contains the greatest number of high peaks. The snow line on the southern slopes of the Great Himalayas varies from 4,480 m (14,700 ft) in the eastern and central Himalayas of Nepal and Sikkim to 5,180 m (17,000 ft) in the western Himalayas. To the north of the Great Himalayas are several ranges such as the Zāskār, Ladakh, and the Kailas. The Karakoram Range lies on the Tibetan side of the Great Himalayas. The Middle Himalayas range, which has a width of about 80 km (about 50 mi), borders the Great Himalayan range on the south. It consists principally of high ranges both within and outside of the Great Himalayan range.

Some of the ranges of the Middle Himalayas are the Nāg Tibba, the Dhaola Dhār, the Pīr Panjāl, and the Mahābhārat. The Middle Himalayas possess a remarkable uniformity of height; most are between 1,830 and 3,050 m (between 6000 and 10,000 ft). The Middle Himalayas region is a complex mosaic of forest-covered ranges and fertile valleys. While not as forbidding as the Great Himalayas to the north, this range has nonetheless served to isolate the valleys of the Himalayas from the plains of the Indus and Ganges rivers in Pakistan and northern India. Except for the major valley centers such as Srinagar, Kangra, and Kathmandu, and hill towns such as Simla, Mussoorie, and Darjiling (Darjeeling), the region is moderately populated. Within the Middle Himalayas the intervening mountain ranges tend to separate the densely populated valleys. The numerous gorges and rugged mountains make surface travel difficult in any direction. Few roads or transport routes exist between towns, partly because it is expensive to build them over the high, rough terrain.

The Sub-Himalayas, which is the southernmost and the lowest zone, borders the plains of North India and Pakistan. It comprises the Siwalik Range and foothills as well as the narrow piedmont plain at the base of the mountains. The width of the Sub-Himalayas gradually narrows from about 48 km (about 30 mi) in the west until it nearly disappears in Bhutan and eastern India. A characteristic feature of the Sub-Himalayas is the large number of long, flat-bottomed valleys known as duns, which are usually spindle-shaped and filled with gravelly alluvium. South of the foothills lies the Tarāi and Duars plains. The southern part of the Tarai and Duars plains is heavily farmed. The northern part was forest inhabited by wild animals until about the 1950s. Most of the forests of this region have been destroyed, and much of the land has been reclaimed for agriculture. Great Dividing Range Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world.

The range stretches more than 3,600 km (2250 mi) from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria and turning west, before finally fading into the central plain at the Grampians in western Victoria. The width of the range varies from about 160 km to over 300 km. The sharp rise between the coastal lowlands and the eastern uplands has affected Australia's climate, mainly due to orographic precipitation, and these areas of highest relief have revealed an impressive gorge country. The Transantarctic Mountains in northern Victoria Land near Cape Roberts Transantarctic Mountains The three largest mountain ranges on the Antarctic continent are the Transantarctic Mountains (abbreviated TAM), the West Antarctica Ranges,Cenral and the East Antarctica Ranges. The Transantarctic Mountains compose a mountain range in Antarctica which extend, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land to Coats Land. These mountains serve as the division between East Antarctica and West Antarctica. They include a number of separately named mountain groups, which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges.

The mountain range stretches between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea the entire length of Antarctica, thence the name. With a total length of about 3,500 km, the Transantarctic Mountains are one of the longer mountain ranges on Earth. The 100–300 km wide range forms the boundary between East Antarctica and West Antarctica. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet bounds the TAM along their entire length on the Eastern Hemisphere side, while the Western Hemisphere side of the range is bounded by the Ross Sea in Victoria Land from Cape Adare to McMurdo Sound, the Ross Ice Shelf from McMurdo Sound to near the Scott Glacier, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet beyond. The summits and dry valleys of the TAM are some of the few places in Antarctica not covered by ice, the highest of which rise more than 4,500 metres (14,764 ft) above sea level. The Dry Valleys lie near McMurdo Sound and represent a special Antarctic phenomenon: landscapes that are snow and ice free due to the extremely limited precipitation and ablation of ice in the valleys. The highest mountain of the TAM is 4,528 m high Mount Kirkpatrick in the Queen Alexandra Range.

Isolated peaks surrounded by ice are referred to as nunataks. Create a free website The Longest Mountain Range on Earth | The Basement Geographer The Longest Mountain Range on Earth by kuschk The Andes . 7 000 km in length, they run the length of South America and are the highest mountain range outside of Asia. The diversity of the range is astounding, from the moist, warm north to the arid, frozen southern reaches. In total, the Andes stretch out over nearly 70 degrees of latitude, easily making them the longest mountain range on Earth. Until you look under water, that is, where the actual longest mountain ranges on Earth exist. As humans, we are rarely confronted with what lies beneath the ocean, only with the things that emerge from it (islands and continents). The world’s sea floors, however, are riddled with mountains and ridges. Every place on the planet where two tectonic plates are pulling apart, magma is rising through the breaks in the crust to create new land . This magma creates new volcanic mountains rising out of the ocean floor.

With plate boundaries running into each throughout the world’s oceans, many of these underwater mountain chains ( mid-oceanic ridges ) stitch together to form a continuous set of peaks that stretch 65 000 km in length . That’s nearly ten times the length of the Andes. The US Geological Survey identifies several major mid-oceanic ridges as being contiguous. The age of oceanic crust. Deep red areas indicate where new crust is being formed (and thus where the mid-oceanic ridges are located). Eventually mountains get pushed away from the centre over times by the new crust continually emerging from the mid-oceanic ridge. Bermuda, for example, was originally formed from mid-oceanic magma but has since moved considerably to the west of it . Source: NOAA, (click to enlarge). The 65 000-km undersea mountain chain begins in the Arctic Ocean with what is known as the Gakkel Ridge . Located 3 to 5 kilometres beneath the surface, the Gakkel Ridge is the deepest and slowest-spreading ridge on the planet .

The Gakkel is covered in pyroclastic deposits and hydrothermal vents, and is home to a unique type of magma ten times more volatile than that in other mid-oceanic ridges. The high mineral content has provided the opportunity for rather unique life forms to evolve around the seafloor heat vents via chemosynthesis . The Gakkel Ridge can be seen as the zipper-like formation bypassing the North Pole on the right in the centre of the map. The mid-oceanic chain continues southward from the Gakkel, now known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge , as it snakes between Greenland and Svalbard, eventually emerging above water in Iceland. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge splits the island country in half, fuelling Iceland’s physical growth (as well as providing 24 percent of its electricity and 87 percent of its heating via geothermal means) but also creating occasional chaos via major volcanic eruptions. The ability of these eruptions to form new land was born out quite famously half-a-century ago with the emergence of the island of Surtsey off the southern Icelandic coast. Over time, Iceland will continue to grow, being pulled apart slowly to the west and east as North America and Europe grow further apart.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge extends nearly all the way to Antartica. While the deepest parts of the ridge can be thousands upon thousands of metres deep, these great canyons are of course surrounded on both sides by the massive seamounts that form from magma eruptions, rising 3 000 metres above the ocean floor . In addition to Iceland, numerous smaller islands periodically emerge from the ocean along the massive ridge that nearly stretches from pole to pole, such as the Azores, Saint Helena, and two islands in the South Atlantic previously covered here, Tristan da Cunha and Bouvet Island . Speaking of Bouvet, it is at the nearby Bouvet Triple Junction where the great mid-oceanic mountain chain turns east along the Southwest Indian Ridge, first navigating between Antarctica and South Africa before turning northeast into the heart of the Indian Ocean. As one can see in the embedded Google Map below, the Southwest Indian Ridge is covered in countless seamounts. Not even a handful, though, break the surface; the most notable being South Africa’s Prince Edward Islands . View Larger Map This island-less trend continues for most of the great oceanic mountain chain’s length.

The faint blue line of the mid-oceanic ridge system can be seen in the above image passing between Australia and Antarctica (the Southeast Indian Ridge) and then into the Pacific Ocean (the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge) before turning north at the east edge of the Pacific Plate (the East Pacific Rise ) and snaking its way toward the Gulf of California in Mexico, where it finally terminates. Along the way, the East Pacific Rise meets the Chile Rise near the location of Easter Island (the largest island along the ridge in the Pacific). The southern part of the East Pacific Rise is some of the fastest-spreading oceanic crust on the planet. So, there you have it. Next time someone tells you that the Andes are the longest mountain chain on the planet, you can tell them differently. Further Reading UNESCO (2011). The Mid-Atlantic Ridge. World Heritage Convention. Available at . Accessed 27 February 2011. United States Geological Survey (1999). Developing the theory. Available at . Accessed 27 February 2011. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2006). Arctic Seafloor Expedition: July 1-Aug.

10, 2007. Available at . Accessed 27 February 2011. What is the Longest Mountain Range in the World What is the Longest Mountain Range in the World 12 Aug, 2012 what is 0 A mountain range is an area that contains a number of related mountains in close proximity. Although a mountain range may appear to be somewhat uniform they are often made up of different types of mountains. There are mountain ranges on every continent on the planet. The largest mountains on Earth, including Mount Everest, are a part of a mountain range. Most people are familiar with the mountain ranges on the surface of the Earth, but there are also many underwater mountain ranges as well. Let’s find out which mountain range is the longest on the planet. What is the longest mountain range? The longest mountain range in the world is the Mid-Ocean Ridge, which is a continuous underwater mountain range that is 65,000 km (40,389 mi) long. The Mid-Ocean Ridge can be found in every major ocean of the world.

The following map shows this ridge with the major sections named: The longest mountain range on the surface of the planet is the Andes. This mountain range runs from north to south along the western coast of South America. Parts of the Andes are found in seven different countries on the continent. It is about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long and about 500 km (310 mi) wide. The highest peak in the range is Mount Aconcagua at 6,962 m (22,841 ft). The Andes is the second highest mountain range in the world, after the Himalayas. Amazingly, the Himalayan mountain range has more than 100 mountain peaks higher than Mount Aconcagua, but is far shorter than the Andes! The following is a relief map of South America that clearly shows the Andes on the west of the continent: The second longest mountain range in the world is the Rocky Mountains located in the west of the North American continent. It is about 4,800 km (3000 mi) long and stretches from British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the United States.

Related Articles Longest Mountain Ranges in the World - Top Ten Disclaimer Close Disclaimer : All efforts have been made to make this image accurate. However Compare Infobase Limited,its directors and employees do not own any responsibility for the correctness or authenticity of the same. Andes tops the chart of 10 largest mountain ranges. It is followed by Rocky Mountains. Next in the list are Himalayas/ Karakoram/ Hindukush, Great Dividing Range, Trans Antarctic, Brazilian East Coast Range, Sumatran / Javan Range, Tien Shan, Estern Ghats and Altai Mountains, Central New Guinean Range, Urals respectively. The last three mountain ranges are of the same altitude. The world map showing top 10 largest mountain ranges points out the top 10 largest mountain ranges. Andes: World’s Longest Mountain Range Credit: Johnathan Esper Shutterstock The Andes is the longest mountain range in the world and boasts some of the highest peaks. The range is also known for its volcanoes, ruins of long-ago civilizations and the source of a malaria treatment.

The origin of the name Andes has not been definitively determined; most agree that it comes from the Quechua word anti, which translates to "high crest." A minority argue that it comes from Anti Suyu, which is one of the four regions of the Incas who once inhabited the range. The Andes Mountains stretch about 4,500 miles along the western coast of South America. Credit: CIA World Factbook Located along the entire western coast of South America, the Andes mountain range is about 4,500 miles (7,242 kilometers) long. The mountain range spans seven countries — Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina — and can be found between 10 degrees north and 57 degrees south latitudes and 70 degrees to 80 degrees west longitude. It is up to 500 miles (804 km) wide. The only mountains that are taller than the Andes are the Himalaya Mountains and their adjacent ranges, including the Hindu Kush. The average elevation in the Andes is about 13,000 feet (3,962 meters).

The highest elevation in the Andes is Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, which is 22,841 feet (6,962 m) above sea level. The Andes are dotted with a number of depressions that separate the length of the range into several segments. [ Image Gallery: Journey into the Tropical Andes ] Climate of the Andes Because the Andes act as a large wall between the Pacific Ocean and the continent, they have a tremendous impact on climate in the region. The northern part of the Andes is typically rainy and warm, and the weather is also wet in the eastern part of central Andes, and the area to the southwest. To the west, the dry climate is dominated by the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The mountains form a rain cover over the eastern plains of Argentina, which have extremely dry weather. The Andes Mountains of South America are home to 99 percent of tropical glaciers ­— permanent rivers of ice at high enough elevations not to be affected by the types of balmy temperatures usually associated with the tropics.

The Andes are also home to the world’s highest volcano when measured above sea level, Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border, which reaches 22,615 feet (6,893 m), and more than 50 volcanoes that reach 19,685 feet (6,000 m). [ Related: Satellite Image of Chile-Bolivian Border ] Machu Picchu was an Incan retreat for its emperor. Credit: UNESCO Who and What Lives There A number of cities have sprung up along the Andes, including Huaraz and Cuzco in Peru; Quito and Baños in Ecuador; La Paz, one of the two capitals of Bolivia; Bogata and Medellin in Columbia; and Pucon and Puerto Natales in Chile. A male Andean condor flies above the highlands of Ecuador. Credit: Ammit Jack Shutterstock There is not a lot of evidence of early human life in the Andes, with the oldest human remains being an average of 10,000 to 12,000 years old; although scientists believe there was human habitation prior to that time.

The lack of oxygen at high altitudes and rough terrain made it hard for people survive. The mountain shepherds have survived at higher altitudes of 17,000 feet on a permanent basis because their bodies have been able to adapt, including changes to the makeup of their cells. The Incas managed to establish themselves in the Peruvian Andes in the 15th century, only to be wiped out by civil wars and disease from European invaders to which they had not developed immunities. Their existence was largely undiscovered, save for some local residents, until July 24, 1911, when the locals led Yale University professor Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu , at an elevation of 7,710 feet (2,350 m) in the Peru portion of the mountain range. Because it was relatively undisturbed, Machu Picchu provided a glimpse into the life of the Incas and scientists believe it served as the palace compound of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, who reigned from about 1438 to 1471. It now serves as a major tourist destination.

Vicuñas, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, are related to camels. Credit: Ammit Jack Shutterstock While Bingham thought he had stumbled upon the Vilcabamba, or lost city of the Incas, when he came upon Machu Picchu, he would later find the so-called lost city when he discovered another ruin, Espíritu Pampa. To survive in the Andes, animals have to be rugged, agile and be able to keep warm. One of the most well-known animal inhabitants of the Andes is the chinchilla. Their fur gets thicker in the colder, higher altitudes and their ability to jump and climb serves as a protection from predators. Other animals include llamas and alpacas; the Andean condor, the largest vulture in South America; and the vicuña, a member of the camel family. The Andes has a rich plant population and is home to about 30,000 various species of plants. The Andes are dotted with Cinchona pubescens trees, which produce quinine, coveted as a treatment for malaria.

In the high altitudes of the Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile segments of the range, there are also forests of Polylepis, a group of tree species that have distinctive gnarled shapes. They are members of the rose family. — Kim Ann Zimmermann, LiveScience Contributor Related: Top 10 Mountain Ranges in the World | Owlcation Top 10 Mountain Ranges in the World Top 10 Mountain Ranges in the World Updated on October 28, 2014 Joined: 7 years agoFollowers: 3Articles: 4 The Himalaya range Advertisement Mountain ranges occur on every continent. Here are some of the Earth's highest, longest, and most famous ranges. In this Top Ten List, we are going to start with the ranges with the highest peaks (including four sub-ranges of the Himalayan system), move on to some of the longest ranges, and end with a few mellow old ranges on quiet continental margins. Great Mountain Ranges (click column header to sort results) Name Ismoil Somoni Peak (Stalin Peak, Communism Peak) 24,590 Advertisement Why Are There High Mountain Ranges in Asia?

The earth’s surface is constantly moving, a few centimeters a year, with continents riding the drifting geologic plates. Where the plates collide, under or next to a continent, the crust thickens into mountains. Continental and ocean-floor rocks are crumpled and thrust over each other, sometimes along with slices of the mantle from under the ocean floor, and often pierced with volcanoes that erupt masses of molten material squeezed out of deeply buried crust. As shown in the map below, all south-central Eurasia is festooned with mountain ranges. A succession of smaller landmasses slamming into the southern edge of Eurasia have raised up many mountain ranges: the Himalayan complex, the Tien Shan, the Caucasus, and the Alps, among many others. The mountainous southern margin of Asia. | Source Advertisement I. The Himalayan Mountain System In south-central Asia, the ongoing collision between the Indian Plate and the Asian plate has raised up the world's most mountainous area, the Himalayan orogenic belt. The area began rising in the last 50 million years ago and continues to rise at about 5 mm a year as the collision continues.

Since both plates were covered with lightweight continental crust, which tends to float on top of the heavier mantle layer, crust from both plates was crumpled together. In addition, the ocean floor between the two moving continents was swept up and and stacked between them. The top of Mount Everest itself is sedimentary rock from the ocean bottom. The Himalayan region contains the world's greatest accumulation of ice outside the Arctic and Antartctic. The world’s hundred tallest peaks are nearly all in the Himalayas, Karakoram, Pamirs, or Hindu Kush. (A few exceptions are also in southern Asia, in China's Hengduan Mountains and Kunlun Shan.) The world's fourteen 8000-meter peaks are all in the Himalayas proper or the Karakoram. The purple dots indicate the world's highest mountains: from Everest (#1) on down, the hundred tallest are in Central Asia. | Source Advertisement 1.A. The Himalaya Range The Himalaya Range (meaning "home of snow"), stretching from Pakistan to Bhutan, separates the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.

The world's highest peak, Mount Everest, at 29,029 feet, is in the Himalayas, as are scores of massive, beautiful, dangerous peaks climbers have given their lives to ascend. Their snowfields supply great rivers: the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra. Snowy Mountains Provide Lifeblood for Agriculture Fields in Leh, along the Indus river below the Himalayas. Snow and ice in the world's mid-latitude mountains make much irrigated agriculture possible. | Source Advertisement I.B. Karakoram Mountains The Karakoram (meaning "black gravel") Mountains of Pakistan mark the western end of the greater Himalayan mountain chain and contain the greatest concentration of high peaks on earth. The Karakoram is a mountain desert: a vast region of barren rock and ice, of gravel-covered glaciers where jeep roads cut through valley systems to remote villages still many days' walk from the high mountains. Baltoro Glacier | Source 1.C. Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush, part of the Himalayan complex, is a group of ranges in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The name is said to mean either "border of India" or "killer of Indians." The Khyber Pass crossing it, connecting Afghanistan with Indian and Pakistan, has long been of great military importance, including during the 21st-century invasion of Afghanistan by the US. Kuran wa Munjan valley in Badakhshan in Afghanistan, in the Hindu Kush | Source I. D. Pamir Range The Pamir Range, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, trends more north-south than the other Himalayan ranges. The ancient Silk Road, the long and dangerous land route between China and Europe, crossed it. Its highest peak is 24,590-foot Ismoil Somoni Peak, at one time called Stalin Peak, then Communism Peak. “Across the Pamirs from Murghab to Osh” | Source II. Tian Shan The Tian Shan (or Tien Shan) continues eastward from the Hindu Kush into China and is separated from the Himalayan ranges and Tibet to the south by the huge Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin. The Tian Shan marks the northern boundary of another microcontinent that rammed into the southern edge of Asia before India did.

Compression in the area is lifting the range up. The Snow-Topped Tian Shan III. Andes Mountains The world's longest mountain chain, and the highest outside Asia, is the Andes, running 7000 miles from Colombia to the southern tip of South America. Unlike the Asian mountain ranges discussed earlier above, which resulted from collisions between continents, the Andes are a result of plates bearing ocean crust colliding with the continent of South America. Since the Cretaceous period (about 65 million years ago, the time of the dinosaurs), ocean crust has been sliding below the west coast of South America, sinking, melting, and causing volcanoes and uplift. The Andes are part of the "Rim of Fire" surrounding the Pacific, marked by volcanoes, earthquake zones, and deep ocean trenches. The glaciers and snowfields of the Andes supply water to the arid coast of central South America as well as to the Amazon Basin. The Andean peak Aconcagua, like Everest, is one of the Seven Summits, that is, it is the highest peak on its continent. Andean Glacial Scenery Glacier-carved pinnacles and snowfields in the Cerro Torre region of the southern Andes.

| Source IV. Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a long, narrow, curved range that traverses Alaska from the Aleutian Peninsula to the Yukon Territory. In its bend in Central Alaska, it has the highest mountain in North America, 20,237-foot Denali (Mt. McKinley), one of the Seven Summits (as the highest mountain in North America), and one of the world's tallest mountains from base to top. Geology here is complex; like much of the western margin of North America, Alaska is made of strips of continents that came from somewhere else. In Alaska, the faults that bound the strips have been bent, so that Denali, made of lightweight granite, popped up at the corner, under pressure from a subduction zone far to the south in the Gulf of Alaska. It dominates the surrounding peaks and is visible from great distances, seeming to float above its surroundings. Denali in the Alaska Range Source V. Caucasus Range The Caucasus are another Eurasian range that resulted from a subcontinent, the Iranian Plate, running into the Eurasian land mass. The range is visible in the Central Asia map above as a linear feature between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

Volcanism surged in the area in the last few million years, creating volcanic peaks like Mt. Elbrus (18,510 feet), the highest mountain in Europe and one of the Seven Summits. Wildflowers in the Caucasus Mount Kazbek, Georgia | Source VI. The Alps Another range formed by an approaching continent (Africa) smashing into Eurasia, along with great sheets of the sea floor, beginning about 50 million years ago. Stretching around Northern Italy from Monaco through France, Switzerland, and Austria to Slovenia, the Alps contain many huge flat-lying folds called nappes, in which rocks from the vanished ocean Tethys are stacked on top of European rocks, and in turn covered by rocks from Africa. The European pastimes of geology and mountain-climbing originated in large part in the Alps in the 1700s and 1800s. The rocks on the top of the Matterhorn slid there from Africa. | Source VII. Transantarctic Mountains The Transantarctic Mountains deserve mention, in part because they are are long, 2200 miles.

They run from McMurdo Sound, the base of 19th century Antarctic exploration, in a gentle S-shape across the continent to the Weddell Sea. They are an old range, 500 million years old, far back in the past as plate collisions go. They are largely covered with snow and ice; only their tallest peaks poke out of the ice as nunataks. Robert Scott's expedition geologized there, finding sedimentary rocks including coal, full of plant fossils. The range is also home to the Dry Valleys, sheltered glacial valleys containing the few patches of bare soil on the continent. Although Antarctica has one of the Seven Summits (Mount Vinson, 16,050 ft), it is not in the Transantarctic Mountains, but the younger Ellsworth Mountains. Beardmore Glacier, Transantarctic Range The Ernest Shackleton and Robert Scott expeditions walked onto the Polar Plateau on the Beardmore Glacier. | Source VIII. Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains are another long range, extending more than 3,000 mi (4,800 km) from northern Mexico to Alaska; Mt.

Elbert (14,431 ft/4,399 m) in Colorado is its highest peak. The Rockies are located between the Great Plains on the east (from which they rise abruptly for most of their length) and a series of broad basins and plateaus on the west. For a long time, plate tectonics had no good explanation for the Rockies' existence. They are not obviously a plate margin; for much of the range's history the plate boundary has been far to the west, along the western edge of the continent. One explanation (for example, in Keith Heyer Meldahl's book This Rough-Hewn Land) is that much of the Farallon plate formerly to the west has been dragged underneath western North America, and its slowly melting remnants are supporting the Rockies and the Colorado Plateau. The Scenic Rocky Mountains IX. Australia's Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range is a long, rather old mountain range (from the Carboniferous, 300 million years ago) with complex geology, running from Queensland to New South Wales. Its Snowy Range gets winter snow, has alpine scenery, and contains the highest point in Australia, Mt.

Kosciuszko at 7,310 feet. As the highest point on a continent, it makes the list of the Seven Summits, if you do not include New Guinea's Punczak Jaya instead (16,024), as the highest point in the region of Oceania. Great Dividing Range X. Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains extend for 1600 miles from the hot Kazakh steppes to the frozen coast of the Arctic Ocean. The Urals are old mountains--250 to 300 million years—and were formed at the boundary between two plates when Kazakhstania collided with Laurussia. Their highest peak is Mount Narodnaya at 6,217 feet. The Snow-Topped Ural Mountains Mountain Ranges of All Kinds These are some of the world's tallest and longest ranges. But even the lesser ranges provide beauty, adventure, solitude, wildlife habitat, and water. In closing we are going to vist a couple of less spectacular ranges that nevertheless are beautiful.

Bonus Range: The Serra do Mar of Brazil I'd like to include a couple old, low ranges from Gondwanaland (the southern hemisphere), that don't record any recent great tectonic collisions, but do provide scenery, waterfalls, and water supplies. Brazil's coastal mountains run from Espiritu Santo to Santa Catarina, along the Atlantic Coast. They are more of a discontinuous escarpment than a mountain range. The Serene Brazilian Coast Range Bonus Range: Eastern Ghats The Eastern and Western Ghats--escarpments at the edge of a stable continent--form the edges of the Deccan Plateau in southern India. The Eastern Ghats extend about 700 mi (1,100 km), with an average elevation of about 2,000 ft (600 m), and the Western Ghats run some 800 mi (1,300 km) along the southwestern and western coast, with average elevations from 3,000 ft (900 m) to 5,000 ft (1,500 m).

Because they receive heavy rainfall during the monsoon season, the Western Ghats are peninsular India's main watershed. Mellow Scenery of the Eastern Ghats Advertisement

Question: Which is the longest mountain range in the world?
Answer: ANDES