mountain belt

A mountain belt is a large landform, typically hundreds to thousands of kilometers long and tens to hundreds of kilometers wide, characterized by elevated terrain with steep slopes and significant local relief. These belts are formed by tectonic processes that create high elevations faster than erosion can diminish them.12

The primary processes that create mountain belts include:
* Crustal Shortening: This is the most common process, involving horizontal compression that thickens the Earth's crust. It can occur through folding and faulting, leading to features like fold and thrust belts, often seen in continental collisions (e.g., Alpine or Himalayan-type belts) or at active continental margins. Intracontinental mountain belts, like parts of the Rocky Mountains, also form through crustal shortening within a continental mass via block faulting.342
* Volcanism: Volcanoes can form mountain ranges, particularly at subduction zones where one tectonic plate plunges beneath another, creating chains of volcanoes. Volcanism also occurs at mid-ocean ridges, though these are mostly submarine.56
* Thermal Expansion: Heating of the Earth's lithosphere can cause it to expand and uplift large terrains, creating mountainous topography. This process is responsible for some mountain ranges, such as those in Norway and Sweden, and highlands in Africa and Australia.7

Mountain belts can also be residual, meaning they are remnants of ancient continental collisions.7