Portal:Mountains

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Introduction

Uluguru Mountains, in Tanzania
Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain

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...)

Selected mountain-related landform

A hiker peers into a massive moulin on Snowbird Glacier, in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska

A moulin (or glacier mill) is a roughly circular, vertical (or nearly vertical) well-like shaft formed where a surface meltstream exploits a weakness in the ice. The term is derived from the French word for mill.

They can be up to 10 meters wide and are typically found on ice sheets and flat areas of a glacier in a region of transverse crevasses. Moulins can reach the bottom of the glacier, hundreds of meters deep, or may only reach the depth of common crevasse formation (about 10–40 m) where the stream flows englacially. They are the most typical cause for the formation of a glacier cave. (Full article...)

Selected mountain range

The East Humboldt Range, looking northwest from Spruce Mountain

The East Humboldt Range is a mountain range in Elko County, Nevada, United States. It is located along the eastern edge of the upper watershed of the Humboldt River, which flows to the southwest from its source just north of the range. The range reaches a maximum elevation of 11,306 feet (3,446 m) atop Hole in the Mountain Peak. Most of the range is included within the Ruby Mountains Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. In 1989, the United States Congress passed the Nevada Wilderness Protection Act establishing over 36,000 acres (150 km2) of the range as the East Humboldt Wilderness. The range takes its name from the Humboldt River. The name ultimately is derived from the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.

The East Humboldts run north-to-south for approximately 30 miles (48 km). To the north are Interstate 80 and the community of Wells, while to the south are Secret Pass, the larger Ruby Range, and Ruby Valley. To the east are Clover Valley and U.S. Route 93, and to the west are Starr Valley and Dennis Flats. (Full article...)

Selected mountain type

Bely Golets, Kuznetsk Alatau, Russia.

Golets (Russian: голец), plural Goltsy (Russian: Гольцы), is a type of bald mountain summit of certain areas of Siberia. The term is part of the geographical name of several peaks in the region. (Full article...)

Selected climbing article

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) is the international governing body for the sport of competition climbing, which consists of the disciplines lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing. (Full article...)

Related portals

General images

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

Selected skiing article

The tables below list the FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions. The medalists are the three contestants with the highest total scores at the end of the cross-country skiing World Cup season. The list extends from 1973–74 onwards for overall men, 1978–79 onwards for overall women, 1996–97 onwards for sprint and distance (both genders), as well as Nations Cup winners beginning for 1981–82. (Full article...)

Subcategories

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Topics

NASA Landsat-7 imagery of Himalayas
NASA Landsat-7 imagery of Himalayas
Shivling
Shivling
Eruption of Pinatubo 1991

Flora and fauna

Climbing in Greece
Climbing in Greece

Lists of mountains

Recognized content

Associated Wikimedia

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