A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny . Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics . Mountain ranges are also found on many planetary mass objects in the Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets .
30-811: The Gregory Range is a mountain range in Far North Queensland , Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range , the Gregory Range lies southeast of Croydon and southwest of Georgetown . The range is located in an area of ephemeral watercourses and stony sandstone ridges lightly vegetated with Eucalyptus miniata , acacia and spinifex on the ridge tops. Further down the ridges areas of paperbark are found. The range extends approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) in an east–west direction. The southern portion forms an undulating sandstone and basalt plateau. The sandstone
60-843: A variety of rock types . Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt . The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through the North American Cordillera , the Aleutian Range , on through Kamchatka Peninsula , Japan , Taiwan , the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , to New Zealand . The Andes
90-722: Is 7,000 kilometres (4,350 mi) long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system. The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia , from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including the ranges of the Himalayas , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Alborz , Caucasus , and the Alps . The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in
120-662: Is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan , China , and India , with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan . Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the jurisdiction of Gilgit-Baltistan , which is located in Pakistan. Its highest (and the world's second-highest ) peak, K2 , is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan . It begins in
150-517: Is a list for the highest peaks of the Karakoram. Included are some of the mountains named with a K code, the most famous of which is the K2 (mountain) . The majority of the highest peaks are in the Gilgit–Baltistan region administered by Pakistan. Baltistan has more than 100 mountain peaks exceeding 6,100 metres (20,000 ft) height from sea level. The naming and division of the various subranges of
180-542: Is about 500 km (311 mi) in length and is the most glaciated place on Earth outside the polar regions . The Siachen Glacier (76 km (47 mi) long) and Biafo Glacier (63 km (39 mi) long) are the second- and third-longest glaciers outside the polar regions. The Karakoram is bounded on the east by the Aksai Chin plateau, on the northeast by the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and on
210-538: Is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to
240-531: Is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions . Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock . Erosion
270-678: Is of the Jurassic age (180-160 million years) while the basalt and granite dates from the Mesoproterozoic age (1.6 - 1.0 billion years). This portion is covered in open forest of Bloodwood , wattle, eucalypts and spear grass. The Stawall River flows south from the range and is a tributary of the Flinders River . The Norman River and three of its tributaries the Carron , Clara and Yappar Rivers , also have their headwaters in
300-415: Is the only motorable pass across the range. The Shimshal Pass (which does not cross an international border) is the only other pass still in regular use. The Karakoram mountain range has been referred to in a number of novels and movies. Rudyard Kipling refers to the Karakoram mountain range in his novel Kim , which was first published in 1900. Marcel Ichac made a film titled Karakoram , chronicling
330-618: The Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars . Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule , Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes . Karakoram The Karakoram ( / ˌ k ɑːr ə ˈ k ɔːr əm , ˌ k ær -/ )
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#1732781101329360-473: The Ocean Ridge forms the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres (40,400 mi). The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As the air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate ) and
390-826: The Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan) in the west, encompasses the majority of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and extends into Ladakh (controlled by India) and Aksai Chin (controlled by China). It is part of the larger Trans-Himalayan mountain ranges. The Karakoram is the second-highest mountain range on Earth and part of a complex of ranges that includes the Pamir Mountains , Hindu Kush , and Himalayas . The range contains 18 summits higher than 7,500 m (24,600 ft) in elevation , with four above 8,000 m (26,000 ft): K2 (8,611 m (28,251 ft) AMSL ) (the second-highest peak on Earth), Gasherbrum I , Broad Peak , and Gasherbrum II . The range
420-665: The 1910s and 1920s established most of the geography of the region. The name Karakoram was used in the early 20th century, for example by Kenneth Mason , for the range now known as the Baltoro Muztagh . The term is now used to refer to the entire range from the Batura Muztagh above Hunza in the west to the Saser Muztagh in the bend of the Shyok River in the east. Floral surveys were carried out in
450-521: The Himalaya and 2.2 percent of the Alps . Mountain glaciers may serve as an indicator of climate change, advancing and receding with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation. The Karakoram glaciers are slightly retreating, unlike the Himalayas where glaciers are losing mass at significantly higher rate, many Karakoram glaciers are covered in a layer of rubble which insulates the ice from
480-461: The Karakoram is much less inhabited than parts of the Himalayas further east. European explorers first visited early in the 19th century, followed by British surveyors starting in 1856. The Muztagh Pass was crossed in 1887 by the expedition of Colonel Francis Younghusband and the valleys above the Hunza River were explored by General Sir George K. Cockerill in 1892. Explorations in
510-918: The Karakoram is not universally agreed upon. However, the following is a list of the most important subranges, following Jerzy Wala. The ranges are listed roughly west to east. [REDACTED] 1 ： Sia La , [REDACTED] 2 ： Bilafond La , [REDACTED] 3 ： Gyong La , [REDACTED] 4 ： Sasser Pass , [REDACTED] 5 ： Burji La , [REDACTED] 6 ： Machulo La , [REDACTED] 7 ： Naltar Pass , [REDACTED] 8 ： Hispar Pass , [REDACTED] 9 ： Shimshal Pass , [REDACTED] 10 ： Karakoram Pass , [REDACTED] 11 ： Turkistan La Pass , [REDACTED] 12 ： Windy Gap , [REDACTED] 13 ： Mustagh Pass , [REDACTED] 14 ： Sarpo Laggo Pass , [REDACTED] 15 ： Khunjerab Pass , [REDACTED] 16 ： Mutsjliga Pass , [REDACTED] 17 ： Mintaka Pass , [REDACTED] 18 ： Kilik Pass Passes from west to east are: The Khunjerab Pass
540-562: The People's Republic of China for UNESCO and have been tentatively added to the list. Karakoram is a Turkic term meaning black gravel . The Central Asian traders originally applied the name to the Karakoram Pass . Early European travellers, including William Moorcroft and George Hayward , started using the term for the range of mountains west of the pass, although they also used the term Muztagh (meaning, "Ice Mountain") for
570-724: The Shyok River catchment and from Panamik to Turtuk village by Chandra Prakash Kala during 1999 and 2000. The Karakoram is in one of the world's most geologically active areas, at the plate boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate . A significant part, somewhere between 28 and 50 percent, of the Karakoram Range is glaciated covering an area of more than 15,000 square kilometres or 5,800 square miles, compared to between 8 and 12 percent of
600-485: The east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive,
630-659: The north by the river valleys of the Yarkand and Karakash rivers beyond which lie the Kunlun Mountains . At the northwest corner are the Pamir Mountains . The southern boundary of the Karakoram is formed, west to east, by the Gilgit , Indus and Shyok rivers , which separate the range from the northwestern end of the Himalaya range proper. These rivers flow northwest before making an abrupt turn southwestward towards
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#1732781101329660-520: The north, the Karakoram glaciers joined those from the Kunlun Mountains and flowed down to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in the Tarim basin. While the current valley glaciers in the Karakoram reach a maximum length of 76 kilometres (47 mi), several of the ice-age valley glacier branches and main valley glaciers, had lengths up to 700 kilometres (430 mi). During the Ice Age, the glacier snowline
690-678: The plains of Pakistan . Roughly in the middle of the Karakoram range is the Karakoram Pass , which was part of a historic trade route between Ladakh and Yarkand that is now inactive. The Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve and the Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve in the Karalorun and Pamir mountains have been nominated for inclusion in UNESCO in 2010 by the National Commission of
720-597: The range now known as Karakoram. Later terminology was influenced by the Survey of India , whose surveyor Thomas Montgomerie in the 1850s gave the labels K1 to K6 (K for Karakoram) to six high mountains visible from his station at Mount Haramukh in Kashmir Valley , codes extended further up to more than thirty. In traditional Indian geography the mountains were known as Krishnagiri (black mountains), Kanhagiri and Kanheri . Due to its altitude and ruggedness,
750-644: The range. The flow from these rivers is westward into the Gulf of Carpentaria . The Gilbert and Robertson Rivers also have there headwaters in the range but flow northward. The highest point is in the southern half of the range with an elevation of 1,043 metres (3,422 ft) and is found within the Blackbraes National Park . The first European to travel through the area was the explorer Augustus Charles Gregory in 1855 or 1856 as part of his expedition from Port Essington to Brisbane . The range
780-627: The rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon , are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn 's moon Titan and Pluto , in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include
810-601: The warmth of the sun. Where there is no such insulation, the rate of retreat is high. In the last ice age , a connected series of glaciers stretched from western Tibet to Nanga Parbat , and from the Tarim basin to the Gilgit District . To the south, the Indus glacier was the main valley glacier, which flowed 120 kilometres (75 mi) down from Nanga Parbat massif to 870 metres (2,850 ft) elevation. In
840-543: The world, including Mount Everest , which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera , Appalachians , Great Dividing Range , East Siberians , Altais , Scandinavians , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhyas , Byrrangas , and the Annamite Range . If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then
870-1511: Was about 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) lower than today. Legend： 1： K2 , 2： Gasherbrum I, K5 , 3： Broad Peak , 4： Gasherbrum II, K4 , 5： Gasherbrum III, K3a , 6： Gasherbrum IV, K3 , 7： Distaghil Sar , 8： Kunyang Chhish , 9： Masherbrum, K1 , 10： Batura Sar, Batura I , 11： Rakaposhi , 12： Batura II , 13： Kanjut Sar , 14： Saltoro Kangri, K10 , 15： Batura III , 16： Saser Kangri I, K22 , 17： Chogolisa , 18： Shispare , 19： Trivor Sar , 20： Skyang Kangri , 21： Mamostong Kangri, K35 , 22： Saser Kangri II , 23： Saser Kangri III , 24： Pumari Chhish , 25： Passu Sar , 26： Yukshin Gardan Sar , 27： Teram Kangri I , 28： Malubiting , 29： K12 , 30： Sia Kangri , 31： Momhil Sar , 32： Skil Brum , 33： Haramosh Peak , 34： Ghent Kangri , 35： Ultar Sar , 36： Rimo massif , 37： Sherpi Kangri , 38： Yazghil Dome South , 39： Baltoro Kangri , 40： Crown Peak , 41： Baintha Brakk , 42： Yutmaru Sar , 43： K6 , 44： Muztagh Tower , 45： Diran , 46： Apsarasas Kangri I , 47： Rimo III , 48： Gasherbrum V Here
900-550: Was named by the explorer John McKinlay in 1862 while on an expedition from Adelaide in search of the lost Burke and Wills expedition. Mountain range Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys . Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology . They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes , for example thrust sheets , uplifted blocks , fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in
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