Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

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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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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Fourteen Lakes and Mt. Hochkreuz, 2,709 m (8,888 ft)

The Kreuzeck Group is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. It may be considered either a separate range or part of the larger High Tauern chain. Administratively, the range belongs to the Austrian states of Carinthia and, in the westernmost part, Tyrol (i.e. East Tyrol). (Full article...)

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A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex, is a mixed landform consisting of related volcanic centers and their associated lava flows and pyroclastic rock. They may form due to changes in eruptive habit or in the location of the principal vent area on a particular volcano. Stratovolcanoes can also form a large caldera that gets filled in by a lava dome, or else multiple small cinder cones, lava domes and craters may develop on the caldera's rim.

Although a comparatively unusual type of volcano, they are widespread in the world and in geologic history. Metamorphosed ash flow tuffs are widespread in the Precambrian rocks of northern New Mexico, which indicates that caldera complexes have been important for much of Earth's history. Yellowstone National Park is on three partly covered caldera complexes. The Long Valley Caldera in eastern California is also a complex volcano; the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado are formed on a group of Neogene-age caldera complexes, and most of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks of Nevada, Idaho, and eastern California are also caldera complexes and their erupted ash flow tuffs. The Bennett Lake Caldera in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory is another example of a Cenozoic (Eocene) caldera complex. (Full article...)

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In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 ft (4267 m). The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single state; Alaska is second with 29. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the contiguous United States, one particular state, or another region. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from aluminum and carbon fiber, though materials such as bamboo are still used. Poles are used in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing (with the exception of aerials), and cross-country skiing. Ski jumpers do not use poles. (Full article...)