Weathering and Erosion Form High Mountains

Abstract

Weathering and erosion are the essential processes which have formed today’s high mountain areas and still continue to change them. High mountains arise through the collision of tectonic plates with the exception of those formed by volcanic activity and they begin to collapse even as they continue to grow. Many mountain hikers and alpinists are surely very familiar with weathering and erosion. Think of rockfall caused by animals, unfreezing processes, a rope team, or the actions of a touring company. And what climber has not sworn in anticipation of the torment of traversing a nearly endless rock fan up to the beginning of the climbing route grounded in solid rock? Occasionally one is surprised by large boulders at the wayside which look as if they were split with a wedge. However, the splitting is nothing more than the result of the difference between the day and night time temperatures which cause fracturing within the rocks. Reports and TV pictures frequently reach us concerning destructive mudflows, rock debris flows, and landslides in the high mountains around the world. To all of these phenomena of mountain regions one thing is common: They are the result of uplift, weathering, and erosion processes.

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