All mountains look old and majestic but you might be interested to learn that they are not the same ages. Mountains are classified as young and old according to when they were formed. There is a branch of study dedicated to this called Geochronology. Young mountains were formed several dozen million years ago, while old mountains were formed hundreds of millions of years ago.
The Himalayas are the youngest mountains on Earth. They are estimated to be around 40 million years old. The Rockies are another example of young mountains. They were formed between 80 and 55 million years ago. The oldest mountains on Earth form the Barberton Green-stone Belt in South Africa, estimated to be at least 3.2 billion years old!
One way to recognize young mountains from old is based on the level of erosion that has taken place on them. Young mountains tend to be taller and jagged with fewer signs of erosion, like the Himalayas, while older mountains have rounded tops and lower elevations, due to high levels of erosion. The Appalachian Mountains in North America is an older mountain range which formed around 480 million years ago. Its appearance is smooth and rounded because over many millions of years the action of water, wind and ice have worn it down into a landscape of rolling hills and broad valleys.
Picture Credit : Google
