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Geography

Plate Tectonics Driving the Rock Cycle and Mountain Formation

Quick fact

About 60% of Earth's surface is composed of tectonic plates, and the tallest mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas, are formed when two continental plates collide, crumpling the crust upward at a rate of about 5 millimeters per year—the same speed as fingernail growth.

Why this is interesting

You may think mountains are permanent, but they are actually the visible result of Earth's crustal plates moving and colliding. What forces could possibly lift rock thousands of meters high?