246 – Appendix 2
Having thought about such possibilities as these, I should need to
formulate one of them and put it to the test of further reading and
observation.
2
Physical geography
Uplift and mountain building are of fundamental importance
to the origin of landforms. Discuss some of the ideas
proposed to account for the existence of mountains, paying
particular attention to those which involve the theory of
plate tectonics.
Illustrate your answer where possible with reference to
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
2.1
The meanings of terms
From John B. Whittow’s Penguin Dictionary of Physical Geography
(1984) comes this information:
Uplift – movement of the crustal rocks ‘en masse in a vertical
or radial direction’ at a continental scale.
Mountain building – folding, faulting and thrusting ‘during
which sediments are buckled and deformed’. Unlike uplift,
this is tangential to the earth rather than vertical or radial.
Plate tectonics – the theory, developed in the 1960s, that the
earth’s crust is constructed of seven major and twelve
smaller plates, which are moved about by large-scale
thermal convection currents.
2.2
Relationships of meaning between terms
Can uplift and mountain building be considered synonymous for the
purposes of this essay? Probably not – see definitions above.
Establish what other ‘ideas’ besides the plate tectonics theory
try to account for mountain building.
Having thought about such possibilities as these, I should need to
formulate one of them and put it to the test of further reading and
observation.
2
Physical geography
Uplift and mountain building are of fundamental importance
to the origin of landforms. Discuss some of the ideas
proposed to account for the existence of mountains, paying
particular attention to those which involve the theory of
plate tectonics.
Illustrate your answer where possible with reference to
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
2.1
The meanings of terms
From John B. Whittow’s Penguin Dictionary of Physical Geography
(1984) comes this information:
Uplift – movement of the crustal rocks ‘en masse in a vertical
or radial direction’ at a continental scale.
Mountain building – folding, faulting and thrusting ‘during
which sediments are buckled and deformed’. Unlike uplift,
this is tangential to the earth rather than vertical or radial.
Plate tectonics – the theory, developed in the 1960s, that the
earth’s crust is constructed of seven major and twelve
smaller plates, which are moved about by large-scale
thermal convection currents.
2.2
Relationships of meaning between terms
Can uplift and mountain building be considered synonymous for the
purposes of this essay? Probably not – see definitions above.
Establish what other ‘ideas’ besides the plate tectonics theory
try to account for mountain building.