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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

A kame, or knob, is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier. Kames are often associated with kettles, and this is referred to as kame and kettle or knob and kettle topography. The word kame is a variant of comb (kame, or kaim is the Old Scottish word for comb), which has the meaning "crest" among others. The geological term was introduced by Thomas Jamieson in 1874.

According to White, "kames were formed by meltwater which deposited more or less washed material at irregular places in and along melting ice. At places the material is very well washed and stratified; at others it is more poorly washed, with inclusions of till masses that fell from ice but were covered before they were completely washed. Kame gravels thus tend to be variable and range from fine to coarse grained and even to cobbly and boulder." (Full article...)

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Selected mountain range

The Refugium Range is marked 1 on map.

The Refugium Range is a low, small mountain range comprising the mountains/hills of the Brooks Peninsula on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It has an area of 239 km² (92 sq mi) and is a subrange of the Vancouver Island Ranges which in turn form part of the Insular Mountains. The range was named in 1981 by an expedition which found that peaks higher than 700 m (2,300 ft) were above the glaciers during the last ice age and are therefore a refugium with unique plants. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain type

Fold mountains are formed by the effects of folding on layers within the upper part of the Earth's crust. Before the development of the theory of plate tectonics and before the internal architecture of thrust belts became well understood, the term was used to describe most mountain belts but has otherwise fallen out of use. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Traditional climber leading a route in Indian Creek, Utah.

Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations or indoor climbing walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. Knowledge of proper climbing techniques and the use of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.

Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the world, rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines, such as scrambling, bouldering, sport climbing, and trad (traditional) climbing. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. (Full article...)

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