Portal:Mountains

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Appalachian Mountains

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...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

In glaciology, a roche moutonnée (or sheepback) is a rock formation created by the passing of a glacier. The passage of glacial ice over underlying bedrock often results in asymmetric erosional forms as a result of abrasion on the "stoss" (upstream) side of the rock and plucking on the "lee" (downstream) side. Some geologists limit the term to features on scales of a metre to several hundred metres and refer to larger features as crag and tail. (Full article...)

Selected mountain range

The Cordillera Central (English: Central Ranges) is the highest of the three branches of the Colombian Andes. The range extends from south to north dividing from the Colombian Massif in Cauca Department to the Serranía de San Lucas in Bolivar Departments. The highest peak is Nevado del Huila at 5,364 m (17,598 ft). (Full article...)

Selected mountain type

A grass mountain (German: Grasberg) in topography is a mountain covered with low vegetation, typically in the Alps and often steep-sided. The nature of such cover, which often grows particularly well on sedimentary rock, will reflect local conditions. (Full article...)

Selected climbing article

A serac (/sɛˈrækˌˈsɛræk/) (from Swiss French sérac) is a block or column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. Commonly house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to mountaineers, since they may topple with little warning. Even when stabilized by persistent cold weather, they can be an impediment to glacier travel.

Seracs are found within an icefall, often in large numbers, or on ice faces on the lower edge of a hanging glacier. Notable examples of the overhanging glacier edge type are well-known obstacles on some of the world's highest mountains, including K2 at "The Bottleneck" and Kanchenjunga on the border of India and Nepal. Significant seracs in the Alps are found on the northeast face of Piz Roseg, the north face of the Dent d'Hérens, and the north face of Lyskamm. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

The tables below list the FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions. The medalists are the three contestants with the highest total scores at the end of the cross-country skiing World Cup season. The list extends from 1973–74 onwards for overall men, 1978–79 onwards for overall women, 1996–97 onwards for sprint and distance (both genders), as well as Nations Cup winners beginning for 1981–82. (Full article...)