ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Tectonic uplift

Tectonic uplift is when the land gets lifted up because of big rocks under the ground pushing against each other. Think about when you play with blocks and you stack them on top of each other - the blocks on the bottom push up on the blocks on top and make them go higher.

The big rocks under the ground are called plates, and they move around very slowly. Sometimes they crash into each other and make the ground go up. This is called tectonic uplift.

When the ground goes up, it can make mountains or hills. It can also make things like cliffs and valleys. These changes take a very long time to happen, sometimes millions of years.

So, tectonic uplift is like playing with blocks but on a much bigger scale, and it happens underground. It makes the land go up and change over a really long time.