List of mountain types facts for kids

Mountains and hills are amazing landforms! We can describe them in different ways. Some are volcanoes, known for their lava and eruptions. Others are shaped by powerful glaciers, which gives them unique shapes. Many mountains are also defined by the types of rock they are made of.

How Mountains Are Formed

Mountains are created by different natural forces. These forces include the movement of Earth's plates, volcanic eruptions, and the slow but powerful work of ice. Understanding how they are formed helps us classify them.

Mountains Shaped by Glaciers

Glaciers are huge, slow-moving rivers of ice. As they move, they carve out valleys and shape mountains. Here are some cool landforms created by glaciers:

• Arête: A sharp, knife-like ridge between two glacial valleys. Imagine a thin wall of rock!
• Drumlin: A smooth, oval-shaped hill made of rock and sediment left behind by a glacier. They often look like upside-down spoons.
• Esker: A long, winding ridge of sand and gravel. It forms inside a tunnel under a glacier.
• Nunatak: A mountain peak that sticks out above a glacier or ice sheet. It's like an island in a sea of ice.
• Pyramidal peak: A sharp, pointed mountain peak. It forms when glaciers erode three or more sides of a mountain.

Volcanic Mountains

Volcanoes are openings in the Earth's surface where hot, melted rock (magma), ash, and gases escape. When they erupt, they build up different kinds of mountains:

• Cinder cone: A small, steep cone-shaped hill. It's built from volcanic ash and rock fragments.
• Shield volcano: A wide, gently sloping volcano. It's built by many layers of runny lava flows. Think of a warrior's shield lying on the ground.
• Stratovolcano: A tall, cone-shaped volcano with steep slopes. It's built from layers of lava, ash, and rock. These are the classic volcano shapes you often see.
• Lava dome: A dome-shaped mound formed when thick, sticky lava slowly oozes out of a volcano.
• Submarine volcano: A volcano that erupts underwater. These can be found in the ocean.

Mountains with Special Shapes

Some mountains get their unique shapes from the way the Earth's crust moves or how different rocks erode.

• Bornhardt: A large, dome-shaped rock formation. It often stands alone in a flat area.
• Fault-block mountain: These mountains form when large blocks of the Earth's crust are lifted up or pushed down along cracks called faults.
• Fold mountain: These are created when two of Earth's plates push against each other. This causes layers of rock to bend and fold upwards.
• Table and mesa: Flat-topped mountains or hills with steep sides. A mesa is smaller than a table.
  • Tepui: Special table mountains found in the Guiana Highlands of South America. They are often very old and have unique plants and animals.

Other Kinds of Mountains and Hills

There are many other types of hills and mountains, each with its own story of how it formed.

• Conical hill: A hill that is shaped like a cone.
• Inselberg: A lonely hill or mountain that rises sharply from a flat plain.
• Mound: A small, rounded hill.
• Tumulus: An ancient burial mound.
  • Barrow: A type of burial mound found in the British Isles.
  • Kurgan: A type of burial mound found in the Eurasian Steppe.

Mountains and Their Plants

Sometimes, mountains are named or described by the types of plants that grow on them.

• Fell: A high, barren landscape, often found in northern Europe. It usually has tough, low-growing plants.
• Grass mountain: A mountain mostly covered in grass, often without many trees.

What Mountains Are Made Of

Mountains are made of different types of rock. The kind of rock can tell us a lot about how the mountain formed.

• Igneous rock: This rock forms when hot, melted rock (magma or lava) cools and hardens.
  • Extrusive: Forms when lava cools on the Earth's surface (like from volcanoes).
  • Intrusive: Forms when magma cools deep inside the Earth.
• Metamorphic rock: This rock forms when existing rocks are changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions deep within the Earth.
• Sedimentary rock: This rock forms from layers of sediment (like sand, mud, or shells) that are pressed and cemented together over time.

Groups of Mountains

Mountains often appear in groups, forming large systems across the land.

• Cordillera: A large system or chain of mountain ranges.
• Mountain range: A series of mountains or hills connected in a line.
• Monogenetic volcanic field: An area with many small volcanoes that erupted only once.
• Polygenetic volcanic field: An area with volcanoes that have erupted multiple times.