Portal:Mountains

Portal

WikiProject

Discussion

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). The tallest mountain including submarine terrain is Mauna Kea in Hawaii from its underwater base at 9,330 m (30,610 ft) and some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

Show new selections below (purge)

Selected mountain-related landform

Large dirt cones on Sólheimajökull, Island

A dirt cone is a type of depositional glacial feature. Dirt cones are not actually made entirely of dirt. They have a core of ice, snow, or firn that gets covered with material and insulated. The material, if it is thick enough, will protect the underlying core from ablation. The thickness of material needed to insulate the core is called the “critical thickness.” If the material is less thick than the critical thickness, it will actually speed up erosion of the core through ablation. This is called “indirect ablation.” The cone would then begin melting and shrinking away. (Full article...)

More mountain landforms

Selected mountain range

Schesaplana

The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as the Rhine. In the south, the Prättigau is its limit, and in the north, it is the Walgau. In the east, it borders the Silvretta groups. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian (Raeti or Rhaeti) people. (Full article...)

More mountain ranges

Selected mountain type

A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex, is a mixed landform consisting of related volcanic centers and their associated lava flows and pyroclastic rock. They may form due to changes in eruptive habit or in the location of the principal vent area on a particular volcano. Stratovolcanoes can also form a large caldera that gets filled in by a lava dome, or else multiple small cinder cones, lava domes and craters may develop on the caldera's rim.

Although a comparatively unusual type of volcano, they are widespread in the world and in geologic history. Metamorphosed ash flow tuffs are widespread in the Precambrian rocks of northern New Mexico, which indicates that caldera complexes have been important for much of Earth's history. Yellowstone National Park is on three partly covered caldera complexes. The Long Valley Caldera in eastern California is also a complex volcano; the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado are formed on a group of Neogene-age caldera complexes, and most of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks of Nevada, Idaho, and eastern California are also caldera complexes and their erupted ash flow tuffs. The Bennett Lake Caldera in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory is another example of a Cenozoic (Eocene) caldera complex. (Full article...)

More mountain types

Selected climbing article

Climbing is a major US-based rock climbing magazine first published in 1970. In 2007, it was bought by Skram Media, the publisher of Urban Climber Magazine. The headquarters of the magazine is in Boulder, Colorado. It is published nine times a year. Climbing was purchased by Outside in 2021. (Full article...)

More climbing articles

edit

Related portals

General images

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

Image 1The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 2Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 3Everest 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 4The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 5The 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 6Mont Blanc in Aosta Valley, Italy, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 7Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 8Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 9Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 10Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 11Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 12Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 13Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 14Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 15Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 16Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 17Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 18The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 19Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 20Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 21Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 22Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 23This 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 24The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 25Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 26Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 27Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 28Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 29The Dolomite Mountains, Italy, in summer. The climate of the Dolomites is characterized by short but warm and mild summers, while winters are long and very cold. (from Mountain)
Image 30Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 31The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 32Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 33A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 34Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 35Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 36A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 37Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 38Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 39Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 40British 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 41An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 42Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953

Selected skiing article

A ski suit is a suit made to be worn over the rest of the clothes when skiing or snowboarding. Ski suits made for more casual winter wear outdoors may also be called snowsuits and are often used by children as everyday outerwear in the winter season. Some suits are specifically made for snowboarders but most are used by either skiers or snowboarders regardless of the style. (Full article...)

More skiing articles