We’ve discovered a new way mountains form – from ‘mantle waves’ in the Earth

The Drakensberg Mountains are part of the Great Escarpment that surrounds southern Africa. Ondrej Bucek / Shutterstock " src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JwfjRLg.Kfai4tHeGSYlvQ-/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUxNw-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_conversation_464/220545c9681fc21 6e38803bfbdb9f4e0″ data-src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JwfjRLg.Kfai4tHeGSYlvQ-/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUxNw-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_conversation_464/220545c9681fc216 e38803bfbdb9f4e0″/ >

In 2005, I was navigating winding roads through the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho, Southern Africa. Towering cliff-like features known as escarpments punctuate the landscape, rising upwards for a kilometre or more. Stunned by the dramatic landscape, I was struck by a question: How on earth did it come to be?

The outer shell of our planet is broken into seven or eight major sections, or tectonic plates, on which the continents lie. We expect the ...