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). The tallest mountain including submarine terrain is Mauna Kea in Hawaii from its underwater base at 9,330 m (30,610 ft) and some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rates of movement. The resulting intensity of the shear stress causes a breakage along the faces. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain range

Location in the Altai Republic, Russia

The Kuray Mountains are a mountain range in the Altai Republic, Russia. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain type

A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples of nunataks. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Australian abseiling (also known as Australian rappelling, Rap Jumping, Angel Jumping or deepelling) is the process of descending a fixed rope (abseiling) in a standing position while facing the ground.

The technique is used as a military "assault" technique whereby a soldier is belayed, allowing them to face down the descent and fire a weapon. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 2The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 3An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 4Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 5Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 6Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 7Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 8Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 9Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 10Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 11Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 12The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 13Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 14British 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 15Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 16The Dolomite Mountains, Italy, in summer. The climate of the Dolomites is characterized by short but warm and mild summers, while winters are long and very cold. (from Mountain)
Image 17Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 18Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 19Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 20The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 21A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 22Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 23Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 24The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 25The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 26Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 27Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 28Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 29Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 30Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 31Everest 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 32The graph shows where mountains are found and their altitude. (from Mountain)
Image 33Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 34Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 35A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 36Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 37A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 38Mont Blanc in Aosta Valley, Italy, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 39This 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 40Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 41The 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 42Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 43Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)

Selected skiing article

The pivot turn or pivot is a technique of turning in place in skiing. The two types are the tail pivot and tip pivot.

In the tail pivot, e.g., to the left, little turning steps are done to the left while keeping the tails of the skis together in place. Repeat the following two steps until the required amount of turn is reached: step the front of the left ski to the left with its tail in place, bring the right ski to the left ski. The tip pivot is similar, done while keeping the ski tips in place while moving the tails. (Full article...)

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