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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Side valleys and tributary valleys are valleys whose brooks or rivers flow into greater ones.

Upstream, the valleys can be classified in an increasing order which is equivalent to the usual orographic order: the tributaries are ordered from those nearest to the source of the river to those nearest to the mouth of the river. A confluence is where two or more tributaries or rivers flow together. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain range

Espinhaço Mountains viewed from Lapinha da Serra

The Espinhaço Mountains (Portuguese: Serra do Espinhaço, IPA: [ˈsɛʁɐ dwispiˈɲasu]) are a mountain range in Brazil. The range runs roughly north and south through the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, extending for approximately 1,100 km (680 mi). It forms the divide between the upper watershed of the São Francisco River and those of the shorter rivers which flow east into the Atlantic Ocean, including the Doce, the Jequitinhonha, and the Pardo rivers. Pico do Sol, its highest peak, rises to 2,072 metres (6,798 ft), in Catas Altas town (Caraça National Park). The historical town of Diamantina is located in the Espinhaço Mountains. The Espinhaço Mountains were a major route through which Minas Gerais was settled during the Gold Rush of the 18th century. (Full article...)

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Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form intrusions, such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.

Intrusion is one of the two ways igneous rock can form. The other is extrusion, such as a volcanic eruption or similar event. An intrusion is any body of intrusive igneous rock, formed from magma that cools and solidifies within the crust of the planet. In contrast, an extrusion consists of extrusive rock, formed above the surface of the crust. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Spotting is a technique used in climbing, especially in bouldering, where the climbers are close to the ground and ropes are not normally used. The spotter stands below the climber, with arms raised or at the ready. If the climber falls, the spotter does not catch the climber, but redirects the climber's fall to land safely on a bouldering mat. At the very least the spotter ensures that the climber's head and back do not strike the ground directly. If the climber jumps down, the spotter can also help prevent stumbles and injuries on uneven ground. The spotter should stand with fingers together (known as "using spoons") to avoid broken fingers.

A spotter should always be used for accident prevention. A climbing spotter will typically stand with arms held up with hands in a supporting position for more or less vertical climbs. If the climber falls, the spotter's hands lightly hold the climber's hips or lower back, near the climber's center of gravity. This allows the spotter to help guide the climber's fall effectively, helping keep the center of gravity over the feet. When on steeper, past vertical climbs, the spotter will hold the climber's arms out in a cradling position. If the climber falls, the spotter supports the upper and middle back, helping the climber land on his or her feet. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 2A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 3Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 4A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 5The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 6A climber taking the final few steps to the 6,160 m (20,210 ft) summit of Imja Tse (Island Peak) in Nepal, 2004 (from Mountaineering)
Image 7The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 8British 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 9Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 10Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 11Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 12Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 13Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 14A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 15Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 16The 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 17The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 18Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 19Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 20Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 21Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 22Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 23Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 24Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 25Everest 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 26The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 27Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 28Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 29Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 30Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 31Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 32Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 33Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 34An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 35Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 36Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 37This 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 38Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 39Mountain climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 40Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)

Selected skiing article

A carved turn is a skiing and snowboarding term for the technique of turning by shifting the ski or snowboard onto its edges. When edged, the sidecut geometry causes the ski (in the following, snowboard is implicit and not mentioned) to bend into an arc, and the ski naturally follows this arc shape to produce a turning motion. The carve is efficient in allowing the skier to maintain speed because, unlike the older stem Christie and parallel turns, the skis do not create drag by sliding sideways.

Starting a carved turn requires the ski to be rotated onto its edge, which can be accomplished through angulation of the hips and knees applied to both skis, leading them to efficiently carve a naturally parallel turn. Carving turns are generally smoother and longer radius than either stemmed or parallel turns. Carving maintains the skis efficiently turning along the direction of travel as opposed to skidding at an angle across the direction of travel. For a given velocity, carving with shaped skis typically requires less effort than stemming or parallel and offers increased speed and control in even steep descents and highly energetic turns, making it ubiquitous in racing. (Full article...)

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