Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Appalachian Mountains

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...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: sandurs), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and carries the debris along. The meltwater at the snout of the glacier deposits its load of sediment over the outwash plain, with larger boulders being deposited near the terminal moraine, and smaller particles travelling further before being deposited. Sandurs are common in Iceland where geothermal activity accelerates the melting of ice flows and the deposition of sediment by meltwater. (Full article...)

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Cordón de Lila is a mountain range of the Andes located in northern Chile, south of Salar de Atacama. Geologically it is made up of a batholith of Cambrian and Ordovician age. The rocks of Cordón de Lila are the result of pre-Andean magmatism that occurred during the Famatinian orogeny. The compositions of the plutonic rocks are granodiorite and monzogranite that are either metaluminous or marginally peraluminous. These rocks are remnants of the magmatism along the western rim of the Famatinian orogeny. (Full article...)

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Igneous rock (igneous from Latin igneus 'fiery'), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition. Solidification into rock occurs either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form granular, crystalline rocks, or without crystallization to form natural glasses. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and at times, the UIAA has considered whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountain peaks by including the major satellite peaks of eight-thousanders. All of the eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits lie in the altitude range known as the death zone.

From 1950 to 1964, all 14 eight-thousanders were summited by expedition climbers in the summer (the first to be summited was Annapurna I in 1950, and the last was Shishapangma in 1964), and from 1980 to 2021, all 14 were summited in the winter (the first to be summited in winter being Mount Everest in 1980, and the last being K2 in 2021). On a variety of statistical techniques, the deadliest eight-thousander is Annapurna I (one death – climber or climber support – for every three summiters), followed by K2 and Nanga Parbat (one death for every four to five summiters), and then Dhaulagiri and Kangchenjunga (one for every six to seven summiters). (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Roller skiing is an off-snow equivalent to cross-country skiing. Roller skis have wheels on their ends and are used on a hard surface to emulate cross-country skiing. The skiing techniques used are very similar to techniques used in cross-country skiing on snow.

First created as a summer training exercise, roller skiing grew into a competitive sport in its own right. Annual championships are held in various locations around the world. Most, if not all, national cross-country ski teams around the world roller ski during the off-season for specific physical training simulating winter skiing. In Norway, separate roller ski facilities have been constructed to allow exercise off public roads. (Full article...)

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