Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

View of the south side of the Santa Catalina Mountains as seen from Tucson, Arizona.

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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In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ice. At the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere. (Full article...)

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The Sawtooth Mountains on the shore of Lake Superior, looking west by southwest from Grand Marais, Minnesota

The Sawtooth Mountains are a range of hills or small mountains on the North Shore of Lake Superior in the U.S. state of Minnesota, extending about 30 miles (48 km) from Carlton Peak near Tofte on the west, to Grand Marais on the east. (Full article...)

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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...)

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Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as (meteogene) travertine. It should not be confused with hot spring (thermogene) travertine. Tufa, which is calcareous, should also not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with a similar etymology that is sometimes also called "tufa". (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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Ski Cross competitors navigating a jump during January 2010 World Cup competitions in Les Contamines-Montjoie, France

Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often considered a type of freestyle skiing. What sets ski cross apart from other alpine skiing disciplines is that it involves more than one skier racing down the course. Any intentional contact with other competitors like grabbing or any other forms of contact meant to give the competitor an advantage leads to disqualification.

Ski cross is a part of the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, the world championship organized by the FIS for freestyle skiing. First organized in 1986, the world championship is now held every odd year. In 2010 the sport debuted as a part of the Winter Olympic Games and has been contested ever since. It was a part of the Winter X Games until 2012. (Full article...)

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