Which Force Controls the Height of Mountains? (IMAGE)

GFZ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Geoforschung

Which Force Controls the Height of Mountains?

Caption

The diagram compares the average height of mountain ranges with the shear force (DFs) that acts along tectonic plate boundaries. It can be seen that the mountain height increases linearly with this force. This finding indicates that the height of mountain ranges is mainly tectonically controlled and that global differences in mountain height result from differences in the shear force.

Credit

Dielforder et al. 2020, Nature: DOI 10.1038/s41586-020-2340-7

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