Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Uluguru Mountains, in Tanzania

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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A glacier cave is a cave formed within the ice of a glacier. Glacier caves are often called ice caves, but the latter term is properly used to describe bedrock caves that contain year-round ice. (Full article...)

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Roosevelt Range section of Robert Peary's 1900 explorations map "Polar Regions"

The Daly Range or Daly Mountains (Danish: Daly Bjerge) is a mountain range in Peary Land, Northern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.

It forms the eastern end of the northernmost mountain range on Earth. The area of the range is barren and uninhabited. (Full article...)

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A somma volcano, also known as a sommian, is a volcanic caldera that has been partially filled by a new central cone. The type is named after Mount Somma ("Summit"), a stratovolcano in southern Italy with a summit caldera in which the upper cone of Mount Vesuvius has grown. Other examples of somma volcanoes can be found on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands, stretching south from Kamchatka to Hokkaidō, Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Some examples of somma volcanoes are the following: (Full article...)

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High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a medical condition in which the brain swells with fluid because of the physiological effects of traveling to a high altitude. It generally appears in patients who have acute mountain sickness and involves disorientation, lethargy, and nausea among other symptoms. It occurs when the body fails to acclimatize while ascending to a high altitude.

It appears to be a vasogenic edema (fluid penetration of the blood–brain barrier), although cytotoxic edema (cellular retention of fluids) may play a role as well. Individuals with the condition must immediately descend to a lower altitude or coma and death can occur. Patients are usually given supplemental oxygen and dexamethasone as well. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and boxes on their skis. Known as "hot-dogging" in the early 1970s, it is also commonly referred to as freeskiing, jibbing, as well as many other names, around the world. (Full article...)

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