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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Miller's Cove in Tennessee is an example of a typical Appalachian cove, an enclosed valley in the mountains.

In the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends.

Among the places where the word "cove" appears in the name of an Appalachian valley are Morrison Cove in Pennsylvania; Lost Cove, North Carolina; Bumpass Cove, Tennessee; Doran Cove, Grassy Cove, Ladd Cove, in or adjacent to the Sequatchie Valley of Tennessee and Alabama; and numerous locations in the Great Smoky Mountains, including Cades Cove, Greenbrier Cove, Miller Cove, Tuckaleechee Cove, and Wears Cove. Burke's Garden in western Virginia is another example of a cove. (Full article...)

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Orobie Alps in winter

The Bergamasque Alps or Bergamo Alps (Italian: Alpi Orobie; sometimes translated into English as Orobic Alps) are a mountain range in the Italian Alps. They are located in northern Lombardy and named after the city Bergamo, south of the mountains. Within the Eastern Alps, the Alpine Club or AVE system places them within the Western Limestone Alps, while the SOIUSA system classifies them within the Southeastern Alps. (Full article...)

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A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical mountain of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or lava fountains from a single, typically cylindrical, vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as either cinders, clinkers, or scoria around the vent to form a cone that often is symmetrical; with slopes between 30 and 40°; and a nearly circular ground plan. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit. (Full article...)

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Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits.

The term scree is applied both to an unstable steep mountain slope composed of rock fragments and other debris, and to the mixture of rock fragments and debris itself. It is loosely synonymous with talus, material that accumulates at the base of a projecting mass of rock, or talus slope, a landform composed of talus. The term scree is sometimes used more broadly for any sheet of loose rock fragments mantling a slope, while talus is used more narrowly for material that accumulates at the base of a cliff or other rocky slope from which it has obviously eroded. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 2Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 3Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay after successfully completing the first ascent of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953
Image 4The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 5Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 6Apennine Mountains and Trebbia river, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 7Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 8Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 9Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 10Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol, Italy (from Mountain)
Image 11The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 12Everest 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 13Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 14Mont Blanc on the border between Aosta Valley, Italy, and Haute-Savoie, France, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 15Treeline elevation by latitude (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 16Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 17Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 18Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 19Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 20Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 21A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 22Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 23This 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 24A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 25An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 26Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 27Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 28Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 29The 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 30Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 31British 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 32The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 33Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 34Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 35Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystem)
Image 36Distribution of mountains by location and elevation (from Mountain)
Image 37Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 38Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 39The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 40Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 41Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 42The 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 43Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak, United States (from Mountaineering)

Selected skiing article

The International Biathlon Union (IBU; German: Internationale Biathlon-Union) is the international governing body of biathlon. Its headquarters were in Salzburg, Austria, until May 2020, when the Federation moved to Anif, on the outskirts of the city. It was rocked by a corruption scandal that broke in 2018, concerning the Russians bribing its top two officials. In 2022 Russia and Belarus were suspended from all international biathlon competitions until further notice. (Full article...)

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