Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Uluguru Mountains, in Tanzania

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); some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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The region between the current leading edge of the glacier and the moraines of latest maximum is called glacier foreland or glacier forefield. In the Alps this maximum was in 1850 and since then the region has become ice free due to deglaciation. Because of this relative recent development of vegetation and morphodynamic the glacier foreland differs considerably from the surrounding landscape. (Full article...)

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Queen Louise Land ONC map section.

Queen Louise Land (Danish: Dronning Louise Land; Greenlandic: Nuna Dronning Louise) is a vast mountainous region located west of Dove Bay, King Frederik VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.

The highest point of Queen Louise Land is Gefiontinde, with a height of 2,364.3 m (7,757 ft), the highest of the Gefiontinder group of peaks located at . (Full article...)

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The north face of Mount Garibaldi rises above The Table and Garibaldi Lake in the Garibaldi Lake volcanic field

A volcanic field is an area of Earth's crust that is prone to localized volcanic activity. The type and number of volcanoes required to be called a "field" is not well-defined. Volcanic fields usually consist of clusters of up to 100 volcanoes such as cinder cones. Lava flows may also occur. They may occur as a monogenetic volcanic field or a polygenetic volcanic field. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Fred Beckey, circa 1990

Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey (14 January 1923 – 30 October 2017), known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of some of the tallest peaks and most important routes throughout Alaska, the Canadian Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. Among the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, seven were established by Beckey, often climbing with some of the best known climbers of each generation. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 2Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol, Italy (from Mountain)
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 4Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 5Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 6Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 7Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 8Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 9Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 10The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 11A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 12Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak, United States (from Mountaineering)
Image 13Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 14Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 15Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 16Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 17Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 18Apennine Mountains and Trebbia river, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 19Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 20The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 21Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 22The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 23Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 24This 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 25Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 26Treeline elevation by latitude (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 27Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 28Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 29Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 30An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 31Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 32The 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 33Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 34The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 35Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 36Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 37Mont Blanc on the border between Aosta Valley, Italy, and Haute-Savoie, France, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 38British 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 39Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Image 40Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 41Everest 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 42Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 43A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystem)

Selected skiing article

The introduction of artificial snowmaking with snow guns in the late 1950s revolutionized the ski industry.

A ski season is a period when skiing, snowboarding and other alpine sports are viable in a ski resort. The season corresponds to when ski lifts are running and lift passes are available. Depending on the latitude and altitude of the resort, the season will typically run from early to mid-winter until mid- to late spring. The snow season can change drastically from year to year and mountain to mountain. Ideally, the season will be over before the thaw begins. (Full article...)

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