Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Uluguru Mountains, in Tanzania

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); some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín ("little ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine. Assemblages of drumlins are referred to as fields or swarms; they can create a landscape which is often described as having a 'basket of eggs topography'. (Full article...)

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Ranges of the French Alps,
with the Prealps ranges highlighted in orange

The French Prealps (French: Préalpes françaises [pʁealp fʁɑ̃sɛːz]) are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps. They roughly stretch from Lake Geneva southwest to the rivers Isère and Drôme; east to a line running from Chamonix, to Albertville, to Grenoble, to Gap, to Barcelonette; and south from Grasse to Vence.

In the northern subalpine regions, the various ranges are easily identifiable by geographical separations, such as the Voreppe Gorge between Vercors and Chartreuse, or Chambéry, which sits in a valley between the Bauges and Chartreuse ranges. In the southern subalpine regions, the ranges are generally disorganized and lack the wide, deep valleys that divide them in the north. (Full article...)

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A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce lava and are not necessarily driven by magmatic activity. Mud volcanoes may range in size from merely 1 or 2 meters high and 1 or 2 meters wide, to 700 meters high and 10 kilometers wide. Smaller mud exudations are sometimes referred to as mud-pots.

The mud produced by mud volcanoes is mostly formed as hot water, which has been heated deep below the Earth's surface, begins to mix and blend with subterranean mineral deposits, thus creating the mud slurry exudate. This material is then forced upwards through a geological fault or fissure due to local subterranean pressure imbalances. Mud volcanoes are associated with subduction zones and about 1100 have been identified on or near land. The temperature of any given active mud volcano generally remains fairly steady and is much lower than the typical temperatures found in igneous volcanoes. Mud volcano temperatures can range from near 100 °C (212 °F) to occasionally 2 °C (36 °F), some being used as popular "mud baths". (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

The bowline on a bight is a knot which makes a pair of fixed-size loops in the middle of a rope. Its advantage is that it is reasonably easy to untie after being exposed to load. It is one of the two tie-in knots that are being taught by the German Alpine Club (DAV), generally being considered secure. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

A ski helmet is a helmet specifically designed and constructed for winter sports. Use was rare until about 2000, but by about 2010 the majority of skiers and snowboarders in the US and Europe wore helmets. Helmets are available in many styles and typically consist of a hard plastic/resin shell with inner padding. Modern ski helmets may include many additional features, such as vents, earmuffs, headphones, goggle mounts, and camera mounts. (Full article...)

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