James Mitchner claims in "Centennial" that a first set of mountains rose, erroded, and these Rockies are the second such uplift. Is this true?
2006-10-18 10:44:51 · 4 answers · asked by dogg909 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
It's true. New mexico's mountains are mostly the remains of the first Rocky mountain range, or the "Ancestoral Rockies"
2006-10-18 11:43:38 · answer #1 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There were actually several mountain building events involved in the creation of what we know as the Rocky Mountains. Somewhere way back in time there was the mountain building event that created the continental crust on which the Rockies would eventually be built. More recently, there were several collisions with highlands on the Farallon plate that created thrust faults and uplifted mountains all the way into the present position of the Rockies. Finally, there was also a period of time in which the subduction of the Farallon plate was so rapped that it did not have time to sink down into the mantle until it was well underneath the continent. This cause the subduction related volcanism to move east until it was occurring under what is now the Rockies. This is just a VERY brief summery of the history of the Rocky Mountains, but it should tell you that this area has been very dynamic.
2006-10-18 15:36:49 · answer #2 · answered by Glenn Blaylock 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes
2006-10-18 12:39:45 · answer #3 · answered by potterlike 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Feasible. They are quite recent, I believe, less than 10 million years old.
2006-10-18 10:54:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋