Endogenic processes cause many major landform features. into folds.

The process by which

folds are formed are due to compressional forces known as folding. destructive plate
boundaries.
Rock is a plastic material that endogenic processes mold into the wrinkled, deformed surface of
our planet. Movements of lithospheric plates, which generate tension and compression in the
crust, cause most of the large-scale shaping.
Compression
· Forces of compression are the forces which push rock strata against a hard plane from
one side or from both sides.
· The compressional forces lead to the bending of rock layers and thus lead to the
formation of Fold Mountains.
· Most of the great mountain chains of the world like the Himalayas, the Rockies (N.
America), the Andes (S. America), the Alps (Europe) etc are formed in this manner.
When endogenic forces squeeze rock in compression, it does not immediately fracture, but
deforms extremely slowly. Because it can deform without breaking, large masses of solid rock
are said to be plastic under pressure. The most dramatic example of this occurs when two
tectonic plates carrying continental crust collide, as shown in the diagram.

This mechanical process is best illustrated today by the collision of the Eurasia and India plates,
which crumple together under the Himalaya mountain range. The Himalayas are newly formed
mountains and still growing at about two millimeters per year. Older mountain ranges, such as
the Atlas Mountains in Africa and the Alps in Europe are the result of plate collisions occurring
further back in geologic time.
Lithospheric plate compression produces a standard sequence of rock folding and faulting, as
shown in the diagram below. First, anticlinal (upward) and synclinal (downward) folds appear.
As the folding becomes more extreme, the rock layers will eventually shear along a thrust fault.
Areas shaped by this process are often called fold and thrust topography. Eventually, erosion
will smooth the topography leaving remnant synclinal ridges and anticlinal valleys.
As time wears on and the compression forces diminish, erosion produces a series of rounded,
parallel valleys and ridges, such as the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States as
shown in the satellite image of central Pennsylvania

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Fold
Horizontal movements are produced by forces of compression and tension. Folding is the
bending of rock strata due to compression. Folding on a large-scale result in mountain building
generally referred to as orogeny.
Parts of a Fold
Up thrown part of a fold is called anticline. Down thrown part of a fold is syncline. The side of
the fold is a limb. The top of the fold is the crest. The plane which bisects the angle between
two limbs is called the axis of fold or axial plane. The fold is formed by the plate movements.

Types of Folds
The type of fold depends on the nature of the rock, the intensity of compression forces, etc.
The types of the fold can be many but we will deal with five of the following.

1. When compressional force is equal from both sides, the angle of the limb is same on both
sides. Such a fold is called symmetrical fold.

2. When compressional force is more from one end, one limb is steeper than the other.
Such a fold is called asymmetrical fold.

3. Isoclinal folds are similar to symmetrical folds, but these folds both have the same angle
and are parallel to each other. 'iso' means 'the same' (symmetrical), and 'cline' means 'angle,'
so this name literally means 'the same angle.'

So isoclinal folds are symmetrical and aligned in a parallel fashion.

4. When one limb of the fold is pushed over the other limb of the fold, it is called as over
turned fold. Limbs are seldom horizontal.

5. When one side of the fold is pushed so much that it lies positioned over the other, such a
fold is called recumbent fold.
When plates converge, the weak rocks and sediments lying between two plates get squeezed
and folded. Parallel folds form long chains of fold mountain ranges with high peaks. The fold
mountains are characterised by peaks and valleys. The tops of anticlines become the peaks and
synclines become the valleys. Intermontane plateaus (plateau surrounded by the mountain
ranges all sides) may be found between the high ranges. Example, Tibet.