Why are high mountains often found along the edges of plateaus formed by crustal shortening?

High mountains are often found along the edges of plateaus formed by crustal shortening because the same tectonic forces that create the plateau also thicken the crust at its margins.12

Crustal shortening occurs through the folding of rock layers or the overthrusting of one crustal block over another. This process increases the thickness of the Earth’s crust, which provides the buoyancy necessary to support high elevations. In these specific landforms, the high mountains at the edges are essentially part of the same tectonic event that elevated the entire region.123

In many cases, these plateaus are effectively mountain ranges that have been "buried in their own debris," as streams and rivers transport eroded material from the surrounding mountains into the internal valleys or basins. Consequently, the plateau surface remains relatively flat due to the accumulation of this sediment, while the rugged, high-elevation margins persist as the primary mountain-building zones.1