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21-785: The Moonbi Range , a mountain range that is part of the Great Dividing Range , is located in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales , Australia . The range is located roughly 20 kilometres (12 mi) north east of the city of Tamworth situated at the bottom of the Wentworth Mounds, which is part of the Moonbi Range. These mounds form a spur of the Great Dividing Range where the North West Slopes meet to

42-486: A high area just off the New England Highway roughly 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Tamworth, offers views of the area south of the mountain from a huge granite boulder. Mountain range Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys . Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology . They may be

63-609: A mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes , for example thrust sheets , uplifted blocks , fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types . Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt . The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through

84-509: A track over the range that the existing highway has generally followed. A granite boulder named Cory's Pillar (sometimes Cory's Pillow or Cory's Nightcap) commemorates where Cory is believed to have rested during his travels. In his poem Over the Range , Andrew "Banjo" Paterson wrote of the obstacle that the Moonbi Range created for travellers to the Northern Tablelands. When Banjo Paterson

105-525: Is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to

126-468: Is the branch of geology that studies rocks , their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous , metamorphic , and sedimentary petrology . Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together because both make heavy use of chemistry , chemical methods, and phase diagrams. Sedimentary petrology is commonly taught together with stratigraphy because it deals with

147-446: Is the graphic representation of geological formations being drilled through and drawn on a log called a mud log. As the cuttings are circulated out of the borehole , they are sampled, examined (typically under a 10× microscope) and tested chemically when needed. Petrology utilizes the fields of mineralogy , petrography, optical mineralogy , and chemical analysis to describe the composition and texture of rocks. Petrologists also include

168-538: The Annamite Range . If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then the Ocean Ridge forms the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres (40,400 mi). The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As

189-677: The Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars . Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule , Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes . Petrology Petrology (from Ancient Greek πέτρος ( pétros )  'rock' and -λογία ( -logía )  'study of')

210-799: The North American Cordillera , the Aleutian Range , on through Kamchatka Peninsula , Japan , Taiwan , the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , to New Zealand . The Andes is 7,000 kilometres (4,350 mi) long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system. The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia , from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including

231-599: The Commissioner for Internal Communication, in his fourth report in 1860 was able to refer to "2 miles of road at the Moonbi’s Pass which has been greatly improved." By 1865, the road section between Tamworth and Bendemeer had been cleared and fenced. A second route was found through the Moonbi Ranges in the early 1870s which eliminated the steep section of "The (Blue) Pinch." In 1937 a new bitumen sealed route to eliminate

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252-567: The Northern Tablelands. The Moonbi Range rises from 500–1,300 metres (1,600–4,300 ft) above sea level and it generally forms the divide between the watersheds of the Cockburn River to the south, and the Macdonald River to the north, which are both themselves tributaries of the Namoi River . The higher parts of the area often receive a snowfall in the winter, and the highest peak in

273-623: The air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate ) and is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions . Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock . Erosion

294-633: The curve, two big hands on the wheel. But twenty tonnes of ironbark, the devils fatal load, went crashing off the Moonbi... the end of Big Jim's road." 'The Pinch' was a pass over the First Moonbi Hill near Cory's Pillar which involved a steep climb of about 200 metres (660 ft). Here teamsters used to hitch several teams together to haul their wagons up this section. Descending the range loaded, they often dragged felled trees behind them to slow their descent down these steep slopes. Capt. B. H. Martindale,

315-410: The earlier "S-Bend" deviation and a steep section was built from Moonbi over the range. Reconstruction on the First Moonbi Hill which began in 1975 now continues on a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) section, which has double traffic lanes in each direction. Emergency stopping beds have been built running off the highway on both of the hills in case of vehicle brake failure. The Moonbi Park lookout situated in

336-485: The east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive,

357-436: The processes that form sedimentary rock . Modern sedimentary petrology is making increasing use of chemistry. Lithology was once approximately synonymous with petrography , but in current usage, lithology focuses on macroscopic hand-sample or outcrop-scale description of rocks while petrography is the speciality that deals with microscopic details. In the petroleum industry , lithology, or more specifically mud logging ,

378-565: The range is called Black Jack Mountain at 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). The original inhabitants of the ranges were Aborigines of the Kamilaroi clan. To the road traveller on the New England Highway , the Moonbi Range is notable as it is a major uphill climb on the highway as the motorist ascends from Moonbi at the foot of the 1st Moonbi Hill to the Northern Tablelands and the village of Bendemeer . In 1832 Edward Gostwyck Cory blazed

399-602: The ranges of the Himalayas , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Alborz , Caucasus , and the Alps . The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest , which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera , Appalachians , Great Dividing Range , East Siberians , Altais , Scandinavians , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhyas , Byrrangas , and

420-617: The rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon , are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn 's moon Titan and Pluto , in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include

441-563: Was born in 1864, the Great North Road was still in poor condition making travel to the New England district for wagon teams very difficult. The mountain range was also immortalised in the annals of Australian country and western music by Buddy Williams . His song, The Mighty Moonbi Range , fitted into the truckdriving genre and included spellbinding verses such as, "Big Jim was a timber man with muscles made of steel. An iron nerve to hold

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