Mountains in the Southern Hemisphere

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The Earth's Southern Hemisphere consists of the area south of the Equator, or zero degrees latitude. Within the Earth's southern half lies numerous mountain ranges and mountain peaks exceeding 10,000 feet. The ranges generally formed from the uplifting of rock at plate boundaries. Many of the Southern Hemisphere's mountains are glaciers or have snow-covered peaks. The locations of these glaciers vary, from Antarctica where ice accumulates, to middle latitudes and even near the Equator.

South America

The Andes include Peru's Macchu Pichu ruins.
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South America features the Andes, which formed from a significant uplift of continental rock. As the world's longest mountain range, the Andes run approximately 4,350 miles along South America's Pacific Coast from the continent's northern end to its southern tip. At 22,929 feet, Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina is the Andes' and the Southern Hemisphere's highest mountain. South America has 204 volcanoes, of which 122 are glacier-clad stratovolcanoes.

Australian Mountains

The Blue Mountains are located along Austrialia's Great Dividing Range.
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Australia has the lowest average elevation among the seven continents. The continent's highest point, Mount Kosciuszko (7,314 feet), is located in the Great Dividing Range. This region separates Australia's east coast from the inland and includes the Blue Mountains. Australia also features rock structures such as Mount Augustus, which rises 3,626 feet above sea level and is clearly visible for approximately 100 miles.

New Zealand

New Zealand's mountains are glacial and volcanic.
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New Zealand consists principally of two islands. Mountain ranges cover approximately 60 percent of the South Island, which has 23 named peaks exceeding 9,800 feet high and 3,000 glaciers. Mt. Cook (12,316 feet), New Zealand's highest peak, is located on the South Island. On the North Island, mountain ranges account for 20 percent of land cover. Only three mountains on the North Island exceed 6,500 feet. All of these are volcanoes. The North Island also has a range of smaller mountains to the east of the volcanoes.


Mt. Kilimanjaro has a glacier even though it is near the equator.
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Africa sits on a stationary crustal plate and did not experience the collisions with other plates that form mountains. As a result, Africa below the equator does not have a mountain range. However, east Africa is home to 19,340-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro. Due to its height, Kilimanjaro has a glacier near its peak even though the mountain sits only three degrees south of the Equator.


Antarctica has many glacial and subglacial mountains.
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Mountains in Antarctica developed from the uplifting of the Earth's crust and ice. The Transantarctic Mountain range divides the continent, runs approximately 2,175 miles along the boundary of two tectonic plates from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans. Peaks in the Transantarctics reach almost 2.5 miles high. Antarctica also has subglaciers, or "ghost mountains," which form as large amounts of water refreeze on the underside of ice sheets. The Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains are covered by up to 1.8 miles of ice.


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