Talk:Mountain range
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[edit] Expand or merge with "mountain"?
Is there enough to be said about mountain ranges or should this article be merged with mountain? Nurg 04:46, 6 May 2006 (UTC) I need to noe about mountain barrirers
[edit] Definition
My geology reference is the 1948 edition of Physical Geology by Chester R. Longwell et al., so perhaps the definition in the intro graph of the accompanying article reflects 60 years of decreasing vagueness. But i'd like to see evidence that the following is outmoded -- and even if it is, IMO earlier usage is worth discussion in the article.
- ... Descriptions of the larger units or their parts employ somewhat loosely the terms range, system, and chain. As it is desirable to use descriptive terms with a definite meaning, the usage proposed many years ago by J. D. Dana is followed here.
- A mountain range is either a single large, complex ridge or a series of clearly related ridges that make up a fairly continuous and compact unit. Excellent types are the Sierra Nevada in eastern California ... and the Front Range of Colorado. A group of ranges that are similar in their general form, structure, and alignment, and presumably owe their origin to the same general causes, constitutes a mountain system. ...
- But a still more comprehensive term is needed to refer to a series of chains or systems that make a more or less unified belt of vast extent. ... [Namely:] [c]ordillera....
