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 surface of a planet, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although there are no universally accepted definitions, a mountain is usually considered higher than a hill. By definition, mountains are often thought of as being a landform which is higher than 2,000 feet (610 m). It may either have a limited summit area or be a smaller plateau with high elevation and steep sides. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges.^{[page needed]}

Mountains are formed through tectonic forces, erosion, or volcanism,^{[page needed]} 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 highest mountain on Earth from base to peak is Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which rises 9,330 m (30,610 ft) from its base at the bottom of the ocean; some scientists consider it to be the tallest on Earth. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

Glacial outwash sediment, Knud Rasmussen Glacier, Greenland

An outwash fan is a fan-shaped body of sediments deposited by braided streams from a melting glacier. Sediment locked within the ice of the glacier gets transported by the streams of meltwater, and deposits on the outwash plain, at the terminus of the glacier. The outwash, the sediment transported and deposited by the meltwater and that makes up the fan, is usually poorly sorted due to the short distance traveled before being deposited. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain range

Garnet Ghost Town, Garnet Range

The Garnet Range, highest point Old Baldy Mountain, elevation 7,511 feet (2,289 m), is a mountain range northeast of Drummond, Montana in Powell County, Montana.

A popular historic site, Garnet Ghost Town, is in the Garnet Range. Situated on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, the ghost town is the remnant of a mining settlement that was inhabited from the late 1800s to the 1930s. The town's population reached several thousand during its peak. A visitor center and self-guided tours are available. (Full article...)

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Sarmatian Kurgan, fourth century BC, Fillipovka, South Urals, Russia. A dig led by Russian Academy of Sciences Archeology Institute Prof. L. Yablonsky excavated this kurgan in 2006. It is the first kurgan known to have been completely destroyed and then rebuilt to its original appearance.

A kurgan is a type of tumulus (burial mound) constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons, and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asia and Eastern, Southeast, Western, and Northern Europe during the third millennium BC.

The earliest kurgans date to the fourth millennium BC in the Caucasus, and some researchers associate these with the Indo-Europeans. Kurgans were built in the Eneolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages, Antiquity, and the Middle Ages, with ancient traditions still active in southern Siberia and Central Asia. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Rock climbing hammers, also known as wall hammers, big wall hammers, Yosemite hammers, or aid hammers, are a type of specialty hammer used mainly in aid climbing for the placement and removal of pitons, copper-heads, and circle-heads. They can also be used in the initial placement of fixed anchors (bolts) or the forceful removal of stuck free climbing protection.

Chouinard Climbing Hammer
Climbing hammer

(Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 2Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 3Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 4The 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 5Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 6Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 7The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 8Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 9An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 10Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 11Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 12Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering. (from Mountaineering)
Image 13Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 14Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak, United States (from Mountaineering)
Image 15Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 16Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 17Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 18Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 19Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 20Coverage of important mountain biodiversity sites in protected areas by country (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 21British 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 22Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 23Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 24Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Image 25The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 26Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 27Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 28A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 29K2, the second highest mountain in the world (from Mountaineering)
Image 30Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 31Treeline elevation by latitude (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 32Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 33A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 34Apennine Mountains and Trebbia river, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 35Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 36Everest 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 37The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 38The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. Mount Illimani dominates the city's skyline. (from Mountain)
Image 39This 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 40Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 41Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)

Selected skiing article

Ski Federation of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Федерація лижного спорту України, ФЛСУ, Federatsiya lyzhnoho sportu Ukrayiny (FLSU); literally Federation of Ski Sports of Ukraine) is a national governing body of skiing in Ukraine.

The federation includes such skiing disciplines as alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing (roller skiing), freestyle skiing, Nordic skiing, and ski jumping. (Full article...)

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