Portal:Mountains

Portal

WikiProject

Discussion

Introduction

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

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...)

Show new selections below (purge)

Selected mountain-related landform

Sani Pass in Mokhotlong, Lesotho

A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout history. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass. A mountain pass is typically formed between two volcanic peaks or created by erosion from water or wind. (Full article...)

Selected mountain range

Sierra Baguales or Sierra de los Baguales is a mountain range in the southernmost Andes. Sierra Baguales is a 60 kilometres (37 mi) long east–west chain, secondary to the main chain of the Andes that lie further west. It lies along the border between Chile and Argentina near the localities of Puerto Natales and Río Turbio. (Full article...)

Selected mountain type

IUGS classification of aphanitic extrusive igneous rocks to their relative alkali (Na₂O + K₂O) and silica (SiO₂) weight contents. Blue area is roughly where alkaline rocks plot; yellow area where subalkaline rocks plot. Original source: *Le Maitre, R.W. (ed.); 1989: A classification of igneous rocks and glossary of terms, Blackwell Science, Oxford.

Extrusive rock refers to the mode of igneous volcanic rock formation in which hot magma from inside the Earth flows out (extrudes) onto the surface as lava or explodes violently into the atmosphere to fall back as pyroclastics or tuff. In contrast, intrusive rock refers to rocks formed by magma which cools below the surface.

The main effect of extrusion is that the magma can cool much more quickly in the open air or under seawater, and there is little time for the growth of crystals. Sometimes, a residual portion of the matrix fails to crystallize at all, instead becoming a natural glass or obsidian. (Full article...)

Selected climbing article

Self-arrest is a technique employed in mountaineering in which a climber who has fallen and is sliding down a snow or ice-covered slope arrests the slide by themselves without recourse to a rope or other belay system. Self-arrest can be performed by using ice axe and a combination of a climber's boots, hands, feet, knees and elbows. Use of an ice axe greatly increases the probability of effectively stopping a fall down a snow field, ice field, or glacier. (Full article...)

edit

Related portals

General images

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

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