SECTION 2 - LONG QUESTIONS
Sample answers from past papers
Questions based on Section A of the syllabus, The Human Habitat. FOLD MOUNTAINS 2007 Q3 (d) 10 marks
With the aid of a diagram, explain how fold mountains are formed. Name one range of fold mountains in Ireland. Where two tectonic plates are moved towards each other by convection currents within the Earth’s mantle a convergent plate boundary is formed. Denser oceanic crust will always be subducted under continental crust and volcanic fold mountains will be formed, such as the Andes. The Andes were formed by the subduction of the Nazca Plate underneath the South American Plate. Where two continental plates converge no subduction will happen. As the plates collide crust will be buckled and folded. The ridges and mountains are called anticlines, while the valleys between them are called synclines. The Wicklow Mountains are examples of fold mountains in Ireland.