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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An inselberg or monadnock (/məˈnædnɒk/ mə-NAD-nok) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an Afrikaans word ("little head") from the Dutch diminutive word kopje. If the inselberg is dome-shaped and formed from granite or gneiss, it can also be called a bornhardt, though not all bornhardts are inselbergs. An inselberg results when a body of rock resistant to erosion, such as granite, occurring within a body of softer rocks, is exposed by differential erosion and lowering of the surrounding landscape. (Full article...)

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The Grampian Mountains (Scottish Gaelic: Am Monadh) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends southwest to northeast between the Highland Boundary Fault and the Great Glen. The range includes many of the highest mountains in the British Isles, including Ben Nevis (whose peak contains the highest point in the British Isles at 1,345 m or 4,413 ft above sea level) and Ben Macdui (whose peak contains second-highest at 1,309 m or 4,295 ft).

A number of rivers and streams rise in the Grampians, including the Tay, Spey, Cowie Water, Burn of Muchalls, Burn of Pheppie, Burn of Elsick, Cairnie Burn, Don, Dee and Esk. The area is generally sparsely populated. (Full article...)

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Kukenan tepui

A tepui /ˈtɛpwi/, or tepuy (Spanish: [teˈpuj]), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana.

Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species. Notable tepuis include Auyantepui, Autana, Neblina, and Mount Roraima. They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrian quartz arenite sandstone that rise abruptly from the jungle. Auyantepui is the source of Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall. (Full article...)

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A campus board (or pan Güllich) is a training tool that has been widely adopted by sport climbers to improve their plyometric performance and led to a dramatic improvements in climbing technique in all rock climbing disciplines. The campus board was invented in 1988 by German climber Wolfgang Güllich to help him climb the world's hardest route at the time, Action Directe, and has since become a standard training tool for climbers. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Selected skiing article

Gondola lift at the Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany

A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is typically connected to an engine or electric motor. It is often considered a continuous system since it features a haul rope which continuously moves and circulates around two terminal stations. In contrast, an aerial tramway operates solely with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals.

The capacity, cost, and functionality of a gondola lift will differ dramatically depending on the combination of cables used for support and haulage and the type of grip (detachable or fixed). Because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alps, the Italian: Cabinovia and French: Télécabine are also used in English-language texts. The systems may also be referred to as cable cars. (Full article...)

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