Mountains - Plate Tectonics, The Force That Builds Mountains

Orogeny is the process of mountain formation. Plate tectonics is the main force of nature responsible for orogeny. This continent-building process may be simply explained:

The Earth is covered with a thin, brittle crust. Below the crust is the mantle, a region where solid rock below a certain depth stretches like rubber.

The crust floats on top of Earth's mantle like the crust of grease that forms on top of a pot of chili or chicken broth in the refrigerator.

The Earth's crust has been broken into pieces, called plates. The motion of a tireless heat engine that swirls and stirs within the earth's mantle, moves the plates.