Mountains Book

Foreword     vii
Preface     ix
Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     xiii
Origin of the Landform: Mountains     1
The Formation of Mountains     2
Ten Mountains     2
Mount Everst, Asia     4
A Mountain of Storms     4
Mount Everest Facts     5
More Deaths on the Mountain     7
Measuring the Himalayas     9
The Roots of the Mountain     10
The Mallory Mystery     12
Appalachians, North America     14
A Mountain of Mystery     15
The Sections of the Appalachians     16
Agreeing on the Wrong Theory     18
Rejected Theory Triumphs     21
Origins of the Appalachians     23
Geography Shapes History     26
Mount Mitchell and Elisha     28
The Appalachians's Mountain-building Periods     28
The Alps, Europe     31
Alps Reveal Deep Secrets     32
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do     35
Hypererosion Sets In     37
Glaciers Apply Finishing Touch     38
Hannibal Succumbs to Geography     40
Mid-AtlanticRidge, North Atlantic     42
Mid-Atlantic Ridge Validates Theory     42
World's Greatest Mountain Chain     47
Iceland Confirms Hot Spot Theory     50
The People of Mount Hekla     52
Volcano Threatens Town     53
The Sierra Nevada, California, the Western United States     55
A Series of Unfortunate Events     55
Mountains Reveal Continent's History     58
Yosemite: Wonderland of Granite     59
Glaciers Suppress Volcanoes     63
Ice Ages Sculpt Rocks     64
Heartbreaking Loss of the Second Yosemite     66
Lake Tahoe Warming Up     67
The Andes, South America     70
The Andes's Strangest Lake     70
Abrupt Rise Poses Mystery     71
Mystery Linked to the Mantle     73
The Inca Build a Complex Civilization     75
Worship     76
The Inca Create Mountaintop Civilization     76
Glaciers and Climate Change     77
Mauna Kea, Hawaii's High Point, Pacific Ocean     79
A Molten Mythology     80
The Best-studied Hot Spot     82
Yellowstone Hot Spot: A Titanic Explosion     83
A Volcanic Landscape     84
Mauna Kea: The Tallest Mountain     86
The First Hawaiians     87
Mount Saint Helens, Northwestern United States     89
Cascades: Edge of a Crustal Plate     89
Effects of Mount Saint Helens Eruption     92
A Violent History     94
An Explosive History of Mount Saint Helens     95
Cascades Support Plate Tectonics     96
Volcanic Mountains of the Cascades     97
Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa     100
The Shining Mountain     100
Glaciers in Full Retreat     104
Mountain Makes Its Own Weather     107
Kilimanjaro Life Zones     107
Great Rift Valley Shapes Continent     108
Age of Exploration     111
Mount Kenya     112
Humphreys Peak, Arizona, North America     114
Building a Mountain, One Eruption at a Time     115
Sunset Crater Phrase     117
The Unexpected Benefits of Disaster     121
Clues to a Vanished People     124
Glossary     127
Books     131
Web Sites     134
Index     137