Portal:Mountains
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Introduction
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...)
A cirque (French: [siʁk]; from the Latin word circus) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic: coire, meaning a pot or cauldron) and cwm (Welsh for 'valley'; pronounced [kʊm]). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform arising from fluvial erosion.
The concave shape of a glacial cirque is open on the downhill side, while the cupped section is generally steep. Cliff-like slopes, down which ice and glaciated debris combine and converge, form the three or more higher sides. The floor of the cirque ends up bowl-shaped, as it is the complex convergence zone of combining ice flows from multiple directions and their accompanying rock burdens. Hence, it experiences somewhat greater erosion forces and is most often overdeepened below the level of the cirque's low-side outlet (stage) and its down-slope (backstage) valley. If the cirque is subject to seasonal melting, the floor of the cirque most often forms a tarn (small lake) behind a dam, which marks the downstream limit of the glacial overdeepening. The dam itself can be composed of moraine, glacial till, or a lip of the underlying bedrock. (Full article...)
Selected mountain range
The Stauning Alps (Danish: Stauning Alper) are a large system of mountain ranges in Scoresby Land, King Christian X Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively the Stauning Alps are part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.
This mountainous area was named after Danish politician Thorvald Stauning (1873–1942) who had helped to finance expeditions to east Greenland planned and carried out by Danish explorers. (Full article...)
Selected mountain type
A tuya is a flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were covered by glaciers and had active volcanism during the same period.
As lava that erupts under a glacier cools very quickly and cannot travel far, it piles up into a steep-sided hill. If the eruption continues long enough, it either melts all the ice or emerges through the top of the ice and then creates normal-looking lava flows that make a flat cap on top of the hill. Discovering and dating the lava flows in a tuya has proven useful in reconstructing past glacial ice extents and thicknesses. (Full article...)
Selected climbing article
Leonardo Emilio Comici (21 February 1901 – 19 October 1940) was an Italian mountain climber and caver. He made numerous ascents in the Eastern Alps, particularly in the Dolomites (where he made over 200 first ascents during his career) and in the Julian Alps. Comici was nicknamed the "Angel of the Dolomites".
In the 1930s and 1940s Comici and other climbers (including Riccardo Cassin, Raffaele Carlesso and Alvise Andrich) represented the Italian answer to the achievements of German climbers. Comici perfected the Bavarian technique of mountain climbing, and began the era of "sixth grade" climbing (at that time the highest climbing grade considered humanly surmountable). He was the inventor and proponent of using multi-step aid ladders, solid belays, the use of a trail/tag line, and hanging bivouacs, contributing greatly to the techniques of big wall climbing. (Full article...)
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Selected skiing article
Ski ballet is a form of ballet performed on skis. It is very similar to figure skating, combining spins, jumps, and flips in a two-minute routine choreographed to music. It was part of the professional freestyle skiing tours of the 1970s and 1980s and then an official FIS and Olympic discipline until the year 2000. Ski ballet became known as Acroski in the 1990s in an effort to legitimize its place among the competitive ski community, especially to the FIS. It is no longer a part of competitive freestyle skiing. (Full article...)
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Topics
- Africa: Atlas • Kilimanjaro • Mount Kenya massif • Ruwenzori Mountains
- America: Andes • Appalachians • Cascades • Cordilleras • Rockies • Sierra Nevada
- Antarctica: Sentinel Range
- Asia: Altai • Himalaya • Hindu Kush • Caucasus • Karakoram • Pamir
- Australia and Oceania: Maoke Mountains • New Zealand Alps • Snowy Mountains
- Europe: Alps • Ardennes • Balkans • Highlands • Jura • Carpathians • Pyrenees • Scandinavian Mountains • Urals • Vosges
- Alps: Piz Badile • Mont Blanc • Petit Dru • Dufourspitze • Eiger • Großglockner • Grandes Jorasses • Jungfrau • Königspitze • Matterhorn • Mönch • Ortler • Watzmann • Drei Zinnen • Zugspitze
- Andes: Aconcagua • Alpamayo • Chimborazo • Cotopaxi • Fitz Roy • Nevado Huascarán • Illimani • Sajama • Ojos del Salado • Siula Grande • Cerro Torre • Yerupaja
- Himalayas: Eight-thousanders – Mount Everest • K2 • Kangchenjunga • Lhotse • Makalu • Cho Oyu • Dhaulagiri • Manaslu • Nanga Parbat • Annapurna I • Hidden Peak • Broad Peak • Gasherbrum II • Shishapangma – Other – Ama Dablam • Chogolisa • Masherbrum • Shivling
- Rocky Mountains: Mount Chephren • Mount Elbert • Mount Logan • Denali • Mount Robson
- Volcanos: Etna • Eldfell • Hohentwiel • Mauna Kea • Pinatubo • Puʻu ʻŌʻō • Mount St. Helens • Stromboli • Mount Unzen
Flora and fauna
- Plants: Alpine Rock-Jasmine • Hairy Alpenrose • Edelweiss • Great Yellow Gentian • Glacier Crowfoot • Wulfenia • Dwarf Willow • Queen of the Andes • Arolla Pine
- Animals: Red-billed Chough • Alpine marmot • Alpine Salamander • Rock Ptarmigan • Alpine Ibex • Andean Condor • Bearded Vulture • Alpine Chough • Chamois • Mountain Burnet • European Viper • Himalayan Tahr • Wallcreeper • White-winged Snowfinch • Golden Eagle • Northern Bald Ibis • Yak
- Equipment: Ascenders • Belay devices • Carabiners • Maillons • Harnesses • Hexes • Nuts • Quickdraws • Ropes • Shoes • SLCDs • Slings • Tricams
- Techniques: Abseiling • Redpointing • Anchor • Mantle • Top roping • Climbing grade • Climbing route
- Types of climbing: Big wall climbing • Bouldering • Competition climbing • Free climbing • Ice climbing • Mountain climbing • Rock climbing • Schrofen • Sport climbing
- Klettersteigs: Mannlgrat
- Climbers: Kurt Albert • Pierre Allain •John Bachar • Henry Barber • Catherine Destivelle • Patrick Edlinger • John Gill • Stefan Glowacz • Wolfgang Güllich • Lynn Hill • Alex Honnold • Alexander Huber • John Long • Jeff Lowe • Magnus Midtbø • Adam Ondra • Dean Potter • Alain Robert • Chris Sharma • Todd Skinner • Ueli Steck • Other climbers
- Mountaineering: Alpine Clubs • Boots • Crampons • Ice axes • Mountain huts • Mountain rescue • Ropes • Rucksacks
- Pioneers: Christian Almer • Melchior Anderegg • Hermann von Barth • Walter Bonatti • Meta Brevoort • William Martin Conway • Angelo Dibona • Hans Dülfer • Paul Grohmann • Adolphus Warburton Moore • Paul Preuss • Ludwig Purtscheller • Schlagintweit brothers • Leslie Stephen • Gottlieb Samuel Studer • Tenzig Norgay • Herbert Tichy • Lucy Walker • Edward Whymper • Georg Winkler • Matthias Zurbriggen
- High-altitude mountaineers: Chris Bonington • Hermann Buhl • Kurt Diemberger • Ralf Dujmovits • Günther Dyhrenfurth • Maurice Herzog • Sir Edmund Hillary • Sandy Irvine • Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner • George Mallory • Nives Meroi • Reinhold Messner • Simone Moro • Oh Eun-sun • Edurne Pasaban • Wanda Rutkiewicz • Lionel Terray • Um Hong-Gil • Stephen Venables • Ed Viesturs • Other mountaineers
- Publicists: Karl Blodig • W. A. B. Coolidge • David Breashears • Jon Krakauer • Gaston Rébuffat
- Alps: Eiger climbing history • Exploration of the High Alps • Golden age of alpinism • Silver age of alpinism • Timeline of climbing the Matterhorn
- Himalayas: 1922 British Mount Everest expedition • 1924 British Mount Everest expedition • 1953 British Mount Everest expedition • 1986 K2 disaster • 1996 Mount Everest disaster • 2008 K2 disaster • Timeline of climbing Mount Everest
- Museums: Alpine Club Museum • Messner Mountain Museum
Lists of mountains
Recognized content
- Featured content
- Good content
- Amak Volcano
- Ben Nevis
- Gerlachovský štít
- Glacier Peak
- Hualālai
- Huangshan
- Kohala (mountain)
- Mont Aiguille
- Mont Blanc massif
- Montpelier Hill
- Mount Adams (Washington)
- Mount Bailey (Oregon)
- Mount Baker
- Mount Cleveland (Alaska)
- Mount Edziza volcanic complex
- Mount Elbert
- Mount Garibaldi
- Mount Hood
- Mount Kenya
- Mount Rainier
- Mount Redoubt
- Mount Tehama
- Mount Thielsen
- Mount Vesuvius
- Pinkham Notch
- Roxy Ann Peak
- Silverthrone Caldera
- Snowdon
- Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field
- Wilkins Peak
- Yamsay Mountain
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