UO geologists uncork new theory on Wallowas

UO geologists uncork new theory on Wallowas: "UO geologists uncork new theory on Wallowas
Nature - Research suggests the northeast Oregon range zipped upward from heat below
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
RICHARD L. HILL

Call them the 'pop up' mountains: The spectacular Wallowas sprung up in northeast Oregon because of a sizzling geologic process below the Earth's surface, a new study proposes.

Unlike many mountain ranges that form when two of Earth's plates shove against each other, the Wallowas rose after heat partially melted a lower portion of the planet's outer shell, allowing more buoyant granite above it to zip upward like a cork, the study suggests."