Portal:Mountains Information

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Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain

A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. A mountain differs from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is larger than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (1000 feet) 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

A hiker peers into a massive moulin on Snowbird Glacier, in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska

A moulin (or glacier mill) is a roughly circular, vertical (or nearly vertical) well-like shaft within a glacier or ice sheet which water enters from the surface. The term is derived from the French word for mill.

They can be up to 10 meters wide and are typically found on ice sheets and flat areas of a glacier in a region of transverse crevasses. Moulins can reach the bottom of the glacier, hundreds of meters deep, or may only reach the depth of common crevasse formation (about 10–40 m) where the stream flows englacially. They are the most typical cause for the formation of a glacier cave. ( Full article...)

Selected mountain range

The Delamar Mountains are a mountain range in Lincoln County, Nevada, named after Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar. The range extends for approximately 50 miles (80 km) in a NNE–SSW orientation with a width of about 11 miles (18 km). Surrounding ranges include the Burnt Springs Range and the Chief Range to the north, the Clover Mountains and Meadow Valley Mountains to the east and the Sheep Range and South Pahroc Range on the west. The Delamar Valley lies to the west, the Kane Springs Valley to the east and the Coyote Springs Valley lies to the south of the range.

U.S. Route 93 traverses the north end of the range between Crystal Springs and Caliente. The elevation of the route reaches 6243 feet at Oak Springs Summit pass. Nevada State Route 317 follows Rainbow Canyon south along the northeast margin of the range between Caliente and Elgin. ( Full article...)

Selected mountain type

Milešovka Hill in the Bohemian Central Uplands

A conical hill (also cone or conical mountain) is a landform with a distinctly conical shape. It is usually isolated or rises above other surrounding foothills, and is often of volcanic origin.

Conical hills or mountains occur in different shapes and are not necessarily geometrically-shaped cones; some are more tower-shaped or have an asymmetric curve on one side of the hill. Typically, however, they have a circular base and smooth sides with a gradient of up to 30°. Such conical mountains are found in all volcanically-formed areas of the world such as the Bohemian Central Uplands in the Czech Republic, the Rhön in Germany or the Massif Central in France. ( Full article...)

Selected climbing article

This glossary of climbing terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon related to rock climbing and mountaineering. The specific terms used can vary considerably between different English-speaking countries; many of the phrases described here are particular to the United States and the United Kingdom. ( Full article...)

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Related portals

General images

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

Image 1 Mount Fuji, Japan's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 2 Cotopaxi (5,897 m), Andes: 5,000 m (from Snow line)
Image 3Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 4Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 5Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 6Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 7Peaks of Mount Kenya (from Mountain)
Image 8Granite Park Chalet in Glacier National Park, US (from Mountaineering)
Image 9The Himalayas, the highest mountain range on Earth, seen from space (from Mountain range)
Image 10Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 11Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 12 Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Russia and Europe (from Mountain)
Image 13 Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 14Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 15 Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 16 Mount Ararat in Turkey, as seen from Khor Virap, Armenia (from Mountain)
Image 17A combination of high latitude and high altitude makes the northern Urals in picture to have climatic conditions that make the ground barren. (from Mountain)
Image 18 Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 19Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 20 Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 21 Mount Siguniang, Sichuan, China (from Mountain)
Image 22This 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 23The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 24A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 25Mountaineers, circa 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 26The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 27 Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Himalayas: 6,000 m (from Snow line)
Image 28A climber taking the final few steps onto the 6,160 m (20,210 ft) summit of Imja Tse (Island Peak) in Nepal, 2004 (from Mountaineering)
Image 29Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 30 Puncak Jaya in Indonesia, the highest mountain in Oceania (from Mountain)
Image 31An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 32Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 33 Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila- Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 34 Chimborazo, Ecuador. The point on Earth's surface farthest from its centre. (from Mountain)
Image 35 Weisshorn (4,506 m), Alps: 3,000 m (from Snow line)
Image 36 Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 37Mountain climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 38Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 39The Andes, the world's longest mountain range on the surface of the Earth, have a dramatic impact on the climate of South America (from Mountain range)
Image 40A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 41The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 42 Waimea Canyon, Hawaii is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 43Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 44Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 45Geological cross-section of Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 46Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 47A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)

Selected skiing article

Skiing, or traveling over snow on skis, has a history of at least eight millennia. The earliest archaeological examples of skis were found in Russia and date to 6000 BCE. Although modern skiing has evolved from beginnings in Scandinavia, 5000-year-old wall paintings suggest use of skis in the Xinjiang region of what is now China; however, this continues to be debated. Originally purely utilitarian, starting in the mid-1800s skiing became a popular recreational activity and sport, becoming practiced in snow-covered regions worldwide, and providing a market for the development of ski resorts and their related communities. ( Full article...)