Portal:Mountains

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

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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. (Full article...)

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The Northern Coast Range, seen from Saddle Mountain in Clatsop County

The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south running range extends over 200 miles (320 km) from the Columbia River in the north on the border of Oregon and Washington, south to the middle fork of the Coquille River. It is 30 to 60 miles (48 to 97 km) wide and averages around 1,500 feet (460 m) in elevation above sea level. The coast range has three main sections, a Northern, Central, and Southern.

The oldest portions of the range are over 60 million years old, with volcanics and a forearc basin as the primary mountain building processes responsible for the range. It is part of the larger grouping known as the Pacific Coast Ranges that extends over much of the western edge of North America from California to Alaska. The range creates a rain shadow effect for the Willamette Valley that lies to the east of the mountains, creating a more stable climate and significantly less rain than the coastal region of the state. To the west where the range over-shadows the Oregon Coast, the range causes more precipitation to fall on that side of the mountains, contributing to the numerous rivers that flow to the Pacific Ocean. (Full article...)

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Igneous rock (igneous from Latin igneus 'fiery'), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition. Solidification into rock occurs either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form granular, crystalline rocks, or without crystallization to form natural glasses. (Full article...)

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Climbing is a major US-based rock climbing magazine first published in 1970. In 2007, it was bought by Skram Media, the publisher of Urban Climber Magazine. The headquarters of the magazine is in Boulder, Colorado. It is published nine times a year. Climbing was purchased by Outside in 2021. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 2The 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 3Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 4Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 5Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 6The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 7Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Image 8Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 9Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 10Everest 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 11Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 12Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 13A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 14The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 15Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 16Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 17Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 18The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 19Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 20British 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 21Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 22Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 23Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 24Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 25Mont Blanc in Aosta Valley, Italy, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 26Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 27Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 28Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 29A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 30The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 31Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 32Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 33An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 34Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 35Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 36Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 37The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 38Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 39The 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 40Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (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 42Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)