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Appalachian Mountains

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). The tallest mountain including submarine terrain is Mauna Kea in Hawaii from its underwater base at 9,330 m (30,610 ft) and some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

A truncated spur is a spur, which is a ridge that descends towards a valley floor or coastline from a higher elevation, that ends in an inverted-V face and was produced by the erosional truncation of the spur by the action of either streams, waves, or glaciers. Truncated spurs can be found within mountain ranges, along the walls of river valleys, or along coastlines.

A faceted spur is also a spur that ends in a triangular face, known as a triangular facet, with a broad base and an apex pointing upward. As typically used in geology, the triangular facet is usually a remnant of a fault plane and it and its associated faceted spur are the result of faulting. The term faceted spur is also applied to inverted-V rock faces formed by stream, wave, or glacial erosion and, thus, as a synonym for truncated spur. (Full article...)

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The Kaweka Range (also known as the Kaweka Ranges) of mountains is located in inland Hawke's Bay in the eastern North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) of New Zealand. It forms part of the mountainous spine of the North Island which extends from Wellington to East Cape, including the Tararua and Ruahine ranges.

The range lies between the city of Napier, 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the southeast, and Lake Taupō, 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the northwest. It is the source of many rivers which flow into Hawke Bay, including among them the Tutaekuri, Mohaka, and Ngaruroro Rivers. (Full article...)

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A couloir (French: [ku.lwaʁ], "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 2Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 3Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 4Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 5Mont Blanc in Aosta Valley, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 6Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)
Image 7The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 8Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 9The 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 10Everest 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 11The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 12A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 13Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 14Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 15Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 16Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 17Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 18A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 19Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 20An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 21Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 22Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 23Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 24Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 25Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 26This 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 27The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 28Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 29Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 30Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 31Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 32The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 33Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 34Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 35Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 36Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 37British 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 38The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 39Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 40A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 41Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)

Selected skiing article

Climbing skins are strips that attach to the bottom of Nordic, alpine touring or randonnée skis to help while ascending backcountry slopes. They are designed to be removed for skiing downhill. They are typically attached to the skis via a loop on the ski tip, a hook on the tail, and adhesive on the base of the skin. They are called skins because they resemble sealskin, from which the first ski skins were made. They are typically made from nylon or mohair or a combination thereof, and are designed to let the ski slide forward on snow but not backward. They are usually narrower than the ski to allow the ski edges to get a grip. Some ski resorts permit skinning. (Full article...)

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