A book called “Earth” is a basic reference in many universities worldwide. One of its authors, Frank Press, is the President of the Academy of Sciences in the USA and was a science advisor to former President Jimmy Carter. The book states that mountains have deep roots buried in the ground, making them look like pegs. This is illustrated on pages 158 and 220 of the book.
أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِهَـٰدًۭا ٦
Have We not smoothed out the earth ˹like a bed˺,
وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًۭا ٧
and ˹made˺ the mountains as ˹its˺ pegs
78:6-7
Surah: An-Naba (The Tidings or The Announcement)
Translation: English, Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
Figure 7: Mountains have deep roots under the surface of the ground.
(Earth, Press and Siever, p. 413.)
Figure 8: Schematic section.
The mountains, like pegs, have deep roots embedded in the ground.
(Anatomy of the Earth, Cailleux, p. 220.)
وَأَلْقَىٰ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ رَوَٰسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَأَنْهَـٰرًۭا وَسُبُلًۭا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ١٥
He has placed into the earth firm mountains, so it does not shake with you, as well as rivers, and pathways so you may find your way.
16:15
Surah: An-Nahl (The Bee)
Translation: English, Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
Modern plate tectonics theory, developed since the late 1960s, supports this by showing that mountains stabilize the earth.
Could anyone during Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ time have known that mountains have deep roots? It’s unlikely, as many geology books only describe the visible parts of mountains. Modern geology has confirmed what the Quran said about mountains.
