๐งต Untitled Thread
Anonymous at Thu, 25 Apr 2024 06:40:18 UTC No. 16144860
Hey /sci/ the other boards say you are pretty smart.
So I want to know why do mountain have their points up to the sky rather down on the earth?
Anonymous at Thu, 25 Apr 2024 07:00:56 UTC No. 16144874
>>16144860
Every mountain range has its own complex geological history, in general their shape is due to erosion over millions of years. The Alpine mountain range is a good example of a "young" mountain range and it always had steeper North faces due to the way it was formed, it will round off and form a typical mountain shape only with erosion over time.
Anonymous at Thu, 25 Apr 2024 07:17:37 UTC No. 16144884
>>16144860
>So I want to know why do mountain have their points up to the sky rather down on the earth?
that's definition of mountains, isn't it?
Things that have "their points" downwards are called valleys, gorges, ravines, etc.
It's all about water, ice, and erosion. Erosion isn't even, some places are more affected than others. The parts of the crust that are more resistant to that erosion, tend to stay up longer than more easily eroded areas, where water etches gullies and creeks.
As a general rule, streams form preferentially along fault lines, because that's where rock is the weakest, having been fractured and offset. Water infiltrates more easily into those fractures, which accelerates chemical weathering and mineral dissolution. This etches the first creeks, and now you have a positive feedback effect: water begins to flow preferentially along the first gullies, which increases weathering and erosion in those same gullies, making them steeper and with broader water collection basin areas, which collects more water, etc.
On the other hand, where rock is less fractured, you have the opposite effect: less infiltration, less weathering and erosion, so those areas tend to resist erosion and that's where the peaks remain behind.
The same can be said for the erosion caused by ice: the grinding of ice against the rock at the bottom of glaciers and ice shelves erodes the base rock preferentially along paths where the rock is already pre-chattered (faults) and not so much in places where the rock is still pristine.
So, if you see a valley, it's most likely the trace of a fault. So the relevant question isn't why do mountains face up, it's why and how do valleys form where they form, leaving mountains stranded between them.
Anonymous at Thu, 25 Apr 2024 07:19:40 UTC No. 16144888
>>16144884
>pre-shattered
FTFM, apologies
Anonymous at Thu, 25 Apr 2024 14:42:37 UTC No. 16145282
>>16144860
Because of gravity and erosion.
Anonymous at Thu, 25 Apr 2024 14:48:34 UTC No. 16145287
>>16144860
Liar, no one on any other board claimed /sci/tards are smart. Post a link to the post liar.
The answer is gravity+erosion. Mountain points away from gravitational center of Earth while elements erode the mountain mostly in the direction of the Earth's gravitational center. Wind erosion being the exception but one of the more mild factors playing into erosion. The uplifting force of tectonic plates push up against gravity and as the force of upward pressure is balanced with gravity and/or the upward force slows enough to do so. This results in the initial point of the peak, then mostly water via rain and ice carve downwards shaping the mountain and further crafting the peak into a point.
Geology isn't my strong suit so apologies for the basic language and any errors.