Why Do Mountains Rise and Fall?

Mountains are like giant bumps on the Earth’s skin. When big pieces of Earth, called plates, push against each other, they create these bumps. Over time, rocks break and wear away, that's how mountains grow old and shrink.

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Examples

When two big plates in Earth’s skin push together, they make a mountain like a bump on your forehead.
Rocks fall down from mountains when it rains or snows, this makes them smaller over time.
Volcanoes can create new mountains by spilling lava and rock onto the ground.

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Categories: Environment · geology· earth science· plate tectonics· mountains