Formation of Mountain Ranges: Described By Whole-Earth Decompression Dynamics

Earth’s mountain ranges, characterized by folding and unique among Terrestrial planets, are inexplicable in plate tectonics, but are consequences of Earth’s initial formation as a Jupiter-like gas giant, as described by Whole-Earth Decompression Dynamics. The violent T-Tauri outbursts from thermonuclear ignition of the sun stripped away the primordial gases and ices leaving behind a cold, compressed rocky Earth, entirely covered by continental crust without ocean basins, but containing within it two powerful energy sources, the stored energy of protoplanetary compression and a nuclear fission georeactor. Over time heat added by nuclear fission and radioactive decay energy replaced the lost heat of protoplanetary compression making possible Earth’s decompression. As Earth decompresses two surface phenomena must necessarily occur: (1) more surface area is produced by the formation of and in-filling of decompression cracks, and (2) continental surface areas adjust to new surface curvature primarily by the surface buckling, breaking and falling over (thereby forming mountain ranges characterized by folding) and secondarily by tension tears at continental edges (thereby forming fjords and submarine canyons). The present continental surface area plus continental shelves provides a “first guess” estimate of the juvenile crustal surface area, but it is an underestimate due to not considering the surface area that had buckled, broken and fallen over to form mountains. Preliminary calculations provide relative estimates of the “excess” surface area during whole-Earth decompression that would form mountains. Currently, there is a dearth of reliable data on the ages of fold-mountain formation and on the amount of surface matter they contain, as well as on the initial time of decompression crack formation, especially those cracks that ultimately became ocean basins. The absence of fold-mountains on other Terrestrial planets may be understood as a consequence of their not having been compressed by massive shells of protoplanetary gases and ices.