Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

View of the south side of the Santa Catalina Mountains as seen from Tucson, Arizona.

A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (980 ft) above the surrounding land. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges.

Mountains are formed through tectonic forces, erosion, or volcanism, which act on time scales of up to tens of millions of years. Once mountain building ceases, mountains are slowly leveled through the action of weathering, through slumping and other forms of mass wasting, as well as through erosion by rivers and glaciers.

High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level at similar latitude. These colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains: different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction, such as mining and logging, along with recreation, such as mountain climbing and skiing.

The highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m (29,035 ft) above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m (69,459 ft). (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight sides and a flat or rounded bottom (by contrast, valleys carved by rivers tend to be V-shaped in cross-section). Glaciated valleys are formed when a glacier travels across and down a slope, carving the valley by the action of scouring. When the ice recedes or thaws, the valley remains, often littered with small boulders that were transported within the ice, called glacial till or glacial erratic.

Examples of U-shaped valleys are found in mountainous regions throughout the world including the Andes, Alps, Caucasus Mountains, Himalaya, Rocky Mountains, New Zealand and the Scandinavian Mountains. They are found also in other major European mountains including the Carpathian Mountains, the Pyrenees, the Rila and Pirin mountains in Bulgaria, and the Scottish Highlands. A classic glacial trough is in Glacier National Park in Montana, USA in which the St. Mary River runs. Another well-known U-shaped valley is the Nant Ffrancon valley in Snowdonia, Wales. (Full article...)

Selected mountain range

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North American from the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate, north and south of the Azores Triple Junction. In the South Atlantic, it separates the African and South American plates. The ridge extends from a junction with the Gakkel Ridge (Mid-Arctic Ridge) northeast of Greenland southward to the Bouvet Triple Junction in the South Atlantic. Although the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is mostly an underwater feature, portions of it have enough elevation to extend above sea level, for example in Iceland. The ridge has an average spreading rate of about 2.5 centimetres (1 in) per year. (Full article...)

Selected mountain type

Geomorphology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about geomorphology. (Full article...)

Selected climbing article

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General images

The following are images from various mountain-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 2Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 3Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 4Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 5An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 6Everest is highest from sea level (green), Mauna Kea is highest from its base (orange), Cayambe is farthest from Earth's axis (pink) and Chimborazo is farthest from Earth's centre (blue) (from Mountain)
Image 7The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 8This 1848 "Sketch showing the actual elevation of the Snow Line in different Latitudes" by Alexander Keith Johnston shows the snow lines of mountains in America, Europe and Asia (from Snow line)
Image 9A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 10Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 11A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 12Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 13Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 14Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 15Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 16Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 17Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 18Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 19Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 20Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 21The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 22A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 23Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 24Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 25Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 26Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 27The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 28Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 29British mountaineer William Cecil Slingsby became known as the father of Norwegian mountaineering and contributed greatly to its popularization with his classic book Norway, the Northern Playground (from Mountaineering)
Image 30The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 31Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 32Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 33Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 34Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 35The Andes, the longest mountain range on the surface of the Earth, have a dramatic impact on the climate of South America (from Mountain range)
Image 36Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 37Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 38The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 39Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 40Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)

Selected skiing article

Climbing skins are strips that attach to the bottom of Nordic, alpine touring or randonnée skis to help while ascending backcountry slopes. They are designed to be removed for skiing downhill. They are typically attached to the skis via a loop on the ski tip, a hook on the tail, and adhesive on the base of the skin. They are called skins because they resemble sealskin, from which the first ski skins were made. They are typically made from nylon or mohair or a combination thereof, and are designed to let the ski slide forward on snow but not backward. They are usually narrower than the ski to allow the ski edges to get a grip. Some ski resorts permit skinning. (Full article...)