Portal:Mountains

Portal

WikiProject

Discussion

Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

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...)

Show new selections below (purge)

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...)

More mountain landforms

Selected mountain range

View of the range looking north from Carter Dome. Left: Middle Carter; middle (distance): Moriah; right: Hight

The Carter-Moriah Range of mountains is located in the White Mountains, in Coos County, New Hampshire. The range forms the northern east side of Pinkham Notch, opposite the northern Presidential Range. The range is also referred to as the Carter Range. (Full article...)

More mountain ranges

Selected mountain type

Trap rock, also known as either trapp or trap, is any dark-colored, fine-grained, non-granitic intrusive or extrusive igneous rock. Types of trap rock include basalt, peridotite, diabase, and gabbro. Trap is also used to refer to flood (plateau) basalts, such as the Deccan Traps and Siberian Traps. The erosion of trap rock created by the stacking of successive lava flows often creates a distinct stairstep landscape from which the term trap was derived from the Swedish word trappa, which means "stairway".

The slow cooling of magma either as a sill or as a thick lava flow sometimes creates systematic vertical fractures within the resulting layer of trap rock. These fractures often form rock columns that are typically hexagonal, but also four- to eight-sided. (Full article...)

More mountain types

Selected climbing article

Chest x-ray of HAPE showing characteristic patchy alveolar infiltrates with right middle lobe predominance.

High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema that occurs in otherwise healthy people at altitudes typically above 2,500 meters (8,200 ft). However, cases have also been reported between 1,500–2,500 metres or 4,900–8,200 feet in more vulnerable subjects.

Classically, HAPE occurs in persons normally living at low altitude who travel to an altitude above 2,500 meters (8,200 feet). Re-entry HAPE is also an entity that has been described in persons who normally live at high altitude but who develop pulmonary edema after returning from a stay at low altitude. It is severe presentation of altitude sickness. (Full article...)

More climbing articles

edit

Related portals

General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations, and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient rest along with a formal recovery plan.

Before the Industrial Revolution, fitness was defined as the capacity to carry out the day's activities without undue fatigue or lethargy. However, with automation and changes in lifestyles, physical fitness is now considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases, to improve immune system function, and to meet emergency situations. (Full article...)

More skiing articles