How the Earth Was Made

S02E06 The Rockies

Stretching from Alaska to New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains rank among the planet's most immense mountain ranges. They were forged by the Pacific Plate relentlessly pressing into the North American continent, compressing and shortening the Earth's crust by roughly an inch each year. Geologically speaking, these peaks are still youthful and actively rising. In fact, when dinosaurs roamed the planet, the Rockies had not yet begun to form.