ABSTRACT
Mountain systems are among the most prominent geomorphic features on the Earth. Tectonically, they are major belts of pervasive deformation that include thick sequences of shallow-water sandstones, limestones and shales deposited on continental crust, and oceanic deposits characterized by deep-water turbidites and pelagic sediments, commonly with volcaniclastic sediments and volcanic rocks. Typically, mountain systems have been deformed and metamorphosed to varying degrees and intruded by plutonic rocks, chiefly of granitic affinity (Moores and Twiss, 1995).
