Mountains are formed due to large scale movements of the earth's crust and the collision of the tectonic plates. Over the history of earth - 9 such movements have taken plates which have resulted in formation of large mountains and mountain ranges.

On the basis of of their mode of origin, mountains are classified into 2 broad categories:

Original or Tectonic Mountains: These mountains are formed due to larege scale movements in the tectonic plates and the resulting collision and folding of plates. These mountains are further classified into Block mountains, Fold Mountains and Volcanic Mountains.

• Volcanic Mountains:
  • These mountains are formed due to collision of tectonic plates and movement along the plate boundaries which erupt to formed mountains i.e volcanic activity results in formation of these mountains
  • Molten lava, volcanic bombs, cinders, ashes, dust and liquid mudare tha main components of the mountains
  • Most important types of Volcanic Mountains are : Composite cones or Stratovolcanoes and Shield Volcanoes.
  • Mount Fiji and Khilimanjaro are Stratovolcanoes while Mauna Loa on Hawaii is a Shield Volcano.
  • They are common in the Circum-Pacific belt.
    
• Fold Mountains:
  • These are formed due to large scale collision of tectonic plates which results in subduction and folding to form mountains
  • Himalaya, Rockies, Andes, Balkan Mountains, Jura, Zagros mountains are some examples
• Block Mountains:
  • These are formed When a fault block is raised or tilted.
  • Higher blocks are called horsts and troughs are called grabens
  • Examples include Vindhya Range, Satpura Range, Sierra Nevada Range, Rhila Rhodope mountain range etc.

Residual Mountains:

• Residual mountains are formed as a result of erosion of an existing elevated area. These are the remnants of old fold mountains derived as a result of denudation (strip of covering).
• Examples include the Aravalli Range, Nilgiri Mountains, Eastern and Western Ghats.

On the basis of of their period of origin, mountains are classified into 3 broad categories:

Since the formation of earth nine very major mountain movements have taken place. However we will mostly discuss only about the most recent 3 movements and the mountain ranges.

• Precambrian Mountains were formed during the pre-cambrian period which extended for 4 billion years. They were subjected to upheaval, denundation and metamorphosis due to which they now appear like residual mountains. Examples include Laurentian Mountains
• Caledonian Mountains (430 million years and 380 million years ago ) were formed due to large scaled tectonic movements. Examples include Appalachians, Aravallis, Mahadeo
• Hercynian Mountains (approximately 340 million years and 225 million years ago ) include ranges like Ural Mountains .
• Alpine Mountains (65 million years to 7 million years ago) are the most recent formations and are therefore slightly rugged. Examples include rockies, Alpine, Himalayas etc.

Hope this helps

Hi Aspirant,

There are five main types of mountains: volcanic, fold, plateau, fault-block and dome.Anticlines and synclines are the most common folds.Mountains are formed by tectonic flow of mountains that make the rock layers fold and overlap. lithospheric plates continuously move and whenever they bump into each other, they form mountain chains.

Hope it helps!!