Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Silvretta panorama from the Ochsenkopf

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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Side valleys and tributary valleys are valleys whose brooks or rivers flow into greater ones.

Upstream, the valleys can be classified in an increasing order which is equivalent to the usual orographic order: the tributaries are ordered from those nearest to the source of the river to those nearest to the mouth of the river. A confluence is where two or more tributaries or rivers flow together. (Full article...)

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The Dunstan Mountains as viewed from the Lowburn Sugarloaf

The Dunstan Mountains are a mountain range in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The mountains lie on the eastern shore of the man-made Lake Dunstan and overlook the towns of Cromwell to the west, Clyde to the south and Omakau to the east. The highest named peak on the mountain range, a rocky knoll simply called Dunstan, is 1,667 m (5,469 feet).

Together with the Cairnmuir Mountains to the south, the Dunstan Mountains form the Cromwell Gorge which was dammed to form New Zealand's third-largest hydroelectric dam, the Clyde Dam. (Full article...)

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Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C (300 to 400 °F) and, often, elevated pressure of 100 megapascals (1,000 bar) or more, causing profound physical or chemical changes. During this process, the rock remains mostly in the solid state, but gradually recrystallizes to a new texture or mineral composition. The protolith may be an igneous, sedimentary, or existing metamorphic rock.

Metamorphic rocks make up a large part of the Earth's crust and form 12% of the Earth's land surface. They are classified by their protolith, their chemical and mineral makeup, and their texture. They may be formed simply by being deeply buried beneath the Earth's surface, where they are subject to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above. They can also form from tectonic processes such as continental collisions, which cause horizontal pressure, friction, and distortion. Metamorphic rock can be formed locally when rock is heated by the intrusion of hot molten rock called magma from the Earth's interior. The study of metamorphic rocks (now exposed at the Earth's surface following erosion and uplift) provides information about the temperatures and pressures that occur at great depths within the Earth's crust. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Black Diamond Equipment is an American manufacturer of equipment for climbing, skiing, and mountain sports, based in Utah, United States. The company also has a global office in Innsbruck, Austria. The company is owned by Clarus Corporation, which also owns Pieps and ClimbOn! Skincare. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Extreme skiing is a form of skiing performed on long, steep (typically from 45 to 60+ degrees, or grades of 100 to 170 percent) slopes in mountainous terrain. The French coined the term 'Le Ski Extreme' in the 1970s. The first practitioners include Swiss skier Sylvain Saudan, who invented the "windshield wiper" turn in the mid-1960s, and in 1967 made the first descents of slopes in the Swiss, French and Italian Alps that were previously considered impossible. Saudan's 'first descent' in America was at Mt. Hood 3 March 1971. Early American practitioners include Bill Briggs, who descended Grand Teton on 15 June 1971. The Frenchmen Patrick Vallençant, Jean-Marc Boivin and Anselme Baud and the Italians Stefano De Benedetti and Toni Valeruz were among those who further developed the art and brought notoriety to the sport in the 1970s and 1980s. The key North American skiers who popularized the sport include: Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, David W. Kraft, Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt, known as The Extreme-6 and all considered among the top extreme skiers in the world during their prime. (Full article...)