Portal:Mountains

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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). (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

A glacier (US: /ˈɡleɪʃər/; UK: /ˈɡlæsiər, ˈɡleɪsiər/) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.

On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets (also known as "continental glaciers") in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on every continent other than the Australian mainland, including Oceania's high-latitude oceanic island countries such as New Zealand. Between latitudes 35°N and 35°S, glaciers occur only in the Himalayas, Andes, and a few high mountains in East Africa, Mexico, New Guinea and on Zard-Kuh in Iran. With more than 7,000 known glaciers, Pakistan has more glacial ice than any other country outside the polar regions. Glaciers cover about 10% of Earth's land surface. Continental glaciers cover nearly 13 million km² (5 million sq mi) or about 98% of Antarctica's 13.2 million km² (5.1 million sq mi), with an average thickness of ice 2,100 m (7,000 ft). Greenland and Patagonia also have huge expanses of continental glaciers. The volume of glaciers, not including the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, has been estimated at 170,000 km³. (Full article...)

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View from the northwest

The Ślęża (Polish: [ˈɕlɛ̃ʐa]; German: Zobten or Zobtenberg, later also Siling) is a 718 m (2,356 ft) high mountain in the Sudeten Foreland in Poland. The mountain is built mostly of granite and is covered with forests.

The top of the mountain has a PTTK tourist mountain hut, a television and radio mast, Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, some poorly-visible ruins of the castle and an observation tower. The area of the peak is protected as the Góra Ślęża nature reserve. The wide area around the mountain forms the Ślęża Landscape Park protected area. (Full article...)

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A subglacial mound (SUGM) is a type of subglacial volcano. This type of volcano forms when lava erupts beneath a thick glacier or ice sheet. The magma forming these volcanoes was not hot enough to melt a vertical pipe right through the overlying glacial ice, instead forming hyaloclastite and pillow lava deep beneath the glacial ice field. Once the glaciers had retreated, the subglacial volcano would be revealed, with a unique shape as a result of their confinement within glacial ice. They are somewhat rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were formerly covered by continental ice sheets and also had active volcanism during the same period. They are found throughout Iceland, Antarctica and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Subglacial mounds can be mistaken for cinder cones because they may have a similar shape. An example of this confusion is Pyramid Mountain in the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field of east-central British Columbia, Canada. (Full article...)

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Rigid step-in "front-point" crampons used for vertical ice climbing

A crampon is a traction device attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and icefields, ascending snow slopes, and scaling ice-covered rock.

There are three main attachment systems: step-in, hybrid, and strap bindings. The first two require boots with welts, or specialized mountaineering boots with dedicated front and rear lugs, as a cam-action lever attaches the crampon to the heel. The last type (strap bindings) is more versatile and can adapt to virtually any boot or shoe, but often does not fit as precisely as the other two types. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. The event format has changed within the last 30 years. A traditional combined competition is a two-day event consisting of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom; each discipline takes place on a separate day. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. Until the 1990s, a complicated point system was used to determine placings in the combined event. Since then, a modified version, called either a "super combined" (with a downhill as the speed event) or an "Alpine combined" (with a super-G as the speed event), has been run as an aggregate time event consisting of two runs: first, a one-run speed event and then only one run of slalom, with both portions held on the same day. (Full article...)

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