CHAPTER XVII 
MOUNTAINS 
Definition. —The term mountain is very loosely 
used. It commonly means any unusual elevation. In 
New England and central New York, elevations of from 
one to two thousand feet are called hills, but on the 
plains of Texas, a hill of a few hundred feet is called 
a mountain. Some are inclined to include under 
this term only those folded rocks which have been 
raised to an unusual elevation, and more or less carved 
by denudation. It would be difficult to restrict the 
term to this narrow meaning. In reality various 
features are included under the term mountain, and 
it is therefore best to analyze these land forms of 
unusual elevation, giving the different forms different 
names. 
Nature of Mountains. — A folded mass, composed of 
anficlines and synclines, and formed by foldings which 
occurred at about the same time, is a mountain range. 
In the range there are ridges (Fig. 178 and Plate 14), 
which are either individual anticlines or, more com- 
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