what's the oldest mountain range on the planet?

Answer 1

This depends a bit on what we call a "mountain range". However;
The big ranges (Andes, Himalaya, Alps etc) are all very young, most uplift in the past 30 million years and much in the past 3-5my
The mountain belt including the Scandinavian peninsula, the Scottish Highlands, English Lake District and Wales were part of an "Andean" type range about 400my ago. The Apalachians in the US are actually part of the same chain, "broken off" so to speak.

Some parts of the Scottish Highlands, in the north west, were formed in the core of a much older range, up to 2,500my, but it is debatable whether you can call that a "mountain range".

The very ancient granites and gneisses (>4,000my) in Canada, Australia, Southern Africa and Greenland were likewise probably part of a mountain building episode, though the Plate Tectonics that formed later mountains probably hadn't kicked in then. And these days, those areas are mostly rather level and eroded. The South Africa/Swaziland border where some of these rocks are found is pretty rugged, but whether you could call it a "mountain range" is again debatable.

Part of the problem is that there are ancient rocks within some very young mountain ranges - the rocks are old but the uplift forming the mountains is recent.

If we call a mountain range a "linear feature of land with steep and rugged terrain significantly higher than the land either side" , and an old range is one that has always been relatively high, not recently pushed up, then we need to find such a feature made of Pre-Cambrian rocks to meet the definition of "oldest mountain range".

Off the top of my head, I'd plump for parts of the Appalachians. The main range is "only" a few hundred milion years old, but the Pre-Cambrian blocks within were probably standing as elevated mountain blocks when the plate collision forming the range began. So there has been an elevated upland in that area for perhaps a billion years.

Answer 2

The oldest mountains are wide spread but one of the ranges is the Appalachians, but others are in Africa and between Spain and France. Exactly how old is difficult to say because of composition of the uplifts, erosion by wind and water and other geomechanical forces including plate tectonics. The older mountain ranges tend to be lower in elevation whereas the younger mountains such as those in the Himalayas are both high and still growing. Mt. Everest has gained a bit of height since first measured.

Answer 3

Douglas range in Australia are said to be one of the oldest? (extremely worn and erroded though due to age).

** I think the problem with this question is I dont think there is such a thing as "the" oldest mountain range on the planet. Why? because of the way the earth was formed in the first place and secondly because of the way plate tectonics operate & thirdly due to the impact of volcanoes & earthquakes on creation/destruction of continental land masses.

**On what precise criteria do you judge one range to be older or oldest in contrast to another, & does it really matter any way??

**Remember at one point long ago in the geological past before man emerged. The earth had one entire connected land mass (called pangea, I think?) so you may find that this is partly why most of the earths mountains are dated to similar ages (excluding the very very youngest ranges, geologically speaking).

IR

Answer 4

The Grampians in Scotland are the oldest known mountains. Britain was near the Equator millions and millions of years ago and under water, hence the limestone features. We have been desert, Tropical forest and swampy. Over millions of years we migrated North, eventually colliding with the Atlantic Ridge.

Answer 5

The Urals are among the world's oldest extant mountain ranges.

Answer 6

I'm almost positive there hasn't been a verified "oldest", but the Zuni Mountains in New Mexico are documented as one of the oldest.

Answer 7

The mountains in the Himalayas, Asia: Everest, K2, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu , etc.

Answer 8

The Urals.

Although, technically even the flatlands could've been a mountain range at one time but have been worn down to nothing by weather and erosion.

Answer 9

I think that I recall reading that the Canadian Shield in Canada is the oldes mountain chain on the planet. It is so old that it has mostly been eroded to small hills.

Answer 10

Appalachian mountain range...........