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). (Full article...)

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A kame delta (or ice-contact delta, morainic delta) is a glacial landform formed by a stream of melt water flowing through or around a glacier and depositing material, known as kame (stratified sequence of sediments) deposits. Upon entering a proglacial lake at the end (terminus) of a glacier, the river/stream deposit these sediments. This landform can be observed after the glacier has melted and the delta's asymmetrical triangular shape is visible. Once the glacier melts, the edges of the delta may subside as ice under it melts. Glacial till is deposited on the lateral sides of the delta, as the glacier melts. (Full article...)

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Sweet Grass Hills in Montana from Red Rock Coulee, Alberta

The Sweet Grass Hills (Blackfoot: kátoyissiksi, Cheyenne: vé'ho'ôhtsévóse, Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille: ččaɫalqn, "three peaks") are a small group of low mountains rising more than 3,000 feet (910 m) above the surrounding plains southwest of Whitlash, Montana, in Liberty and Toole County, Montana. The tallest point in the hills is West Butte at 6,983 feet (2,128 m). Quite prominent in the local area, they are clearly visible from US Highway 2 to the south, I-15, and can sometimes be seen as far North as the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) near Medicine Hat in Alberta as well as from the West, near Glacier National Park and Browning, Montana. Visibility may vary depending on local air temperatures or heat domes that may increase or decrease the apparent height of the features. Other named peaks in the small group are Gold Butte (6,512 ft [1,985 m]), East Butte (with two peaks, the taller of which is Mount Brown at 6,958 ft [2,121 m]), and Mount Lebanon (5,807 ft [1,770 m]). The Sweet Grass Hills are an example of the island ranges that dot the central third portion of the state of Montana. These island ranges, completely surrounded by the 'sea' of plains and not geographically (or often geologically) part of the Rocky Mountains to the west, are "biological hotspots", containing more species than the prairie below. (Full article...)

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A homoclinal ridge or strike ridge is a hill or ridge with a moderate, generally between 10° and 30°, sloping backslope. Its backslope is a dip slope, that conforms with the dip of a resistant stratum or strata, called caprock. On the other side of the other slope, which is its frontslope, of a homoclinal ridge is a steeper or even cliff-like frontslope (escarpment) that is formed by the outcrop of the caprock. The escarpment cuts through the dipping strata that comprises the homoclinal ridge.

Homoclinal ridges are the expression of regional outcrops of moderately dipping strata, typically sedimentary strata, that consist of alternating beds of hard, well-lithified strata, i.e. sandstone and limestone and weak or loosely cemented strata, i.e. shale, mudstone, and marl. The surface of hard, erosion-resistant rock strata forms the caprock of the backslope (dip-slope) of the homoclinal ridges from which erosion has preferentially stripped any weaker strata. The opposite slope, its frontslope, that forms the front of a homoclinal ridge consists of an escarpment that cuts across the bedding of the strata comprising it. Because of the moderately dipping nature of the strata that forms a homoclinal ridge, a significant shift in horizontal location will take place the landscape is lowered by erosion. Because the slope of a homoclinal ridge dips in the same direction as the sedimentary strata underlying it, the dip angle of this bedding (Ө) can be calculated by v/h= tan(Ө) where v is equal to the vertical distance and h is equal to the horizontal distance perpendicular to the strike of the beds. (Full article...)

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Wolfgang Güllich set new "hardest-ever routes" multiple times

In rock climbing, a first free ascent (FFA) is the first redpoint, onsight or flash of a single-pitch, multi-pitch (or big wall), or boulder climbing route that did not involve using aid equipment to help progression or resting; the ascent must therefore be performed in either a sport, a traditional, or a free solo manner. First-free-ascents that set new grade milestones are important events in rock climbing history, and are listed below. While sport climbing has dominated absolute-grade milestones since the mid-1980s (i.e. are now the highest grades), milestones for modern traditional climbing, free solo climbing, onsighted, and flashed ascents, are also listed.

A route's grade is provisional until enough climbers have repeated the route to have a "consensus". At the highest grades, this can take years as few climbers are capable of repeating these routes. For example, in 2001, Realization was considered the world's first 9a+ (5.15a), however, the first repeat of the 1996 route Open Air [de], which only happened in 2008, suggested that it was possibly the first 9a+ (5.15a). Open Air has had no further repeats, and has had holds broken since 1996, whereas Realization has had many ascents and is thus a "consensus" 9a+. Therefore, where known, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranked candidates are also chronicled. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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