What is the mountain?
A mountain is a landform that is the natural elevation of the earth's surface rises above the surrounding usually in the form of a peak.
Orology is the scientific study of mountains.
Mountain has no universally accepted definition. Generally, criteria for defining a mountain is its Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing, and continuity.
Mountains cover 24% of the Earth's total landmass includes 33% of Europe and Asia, 19% of South America, 24% of North America, and 14% of Africa.
A mountain is a sharp slope than a hill and 600 m above sea level is generally called mountains.
At higher elevations, the Climate of the mountains becomes colder due to radiation and convection.
Sunlight hits the ground and heats it up which in turn heats the air at the surface. Hot air expands and becomes lighter due to low density and rises up and transfer heat. This process is called convection.
The rise and fall of air mass without exchanging heat is known as an adiabatic process, depends upon pressure and temperature.
If the temperature decreases the pressure gets lower.
The rate at which temperature decreases with altitude is known as the adiabatic lapse rate, The approximate range of adiabatic lapse rate is 9.8 °C per kilometer (or 5.4 °F (3.0 °C) per 1000 feet) of altitude.
The water vapor present in the atmosphere contains latent heat of vaporization, which cools down the hot air eventually becomes saturated and loses the capacity to hold water vapor which then forms clouds after losing heat and changes dry adiabatic lapse rate to the moist adiabatic lapse rate (5.5 °C per kilometer or 3 °F (1.7 °C) per 1000 feet).
How are mountains formed?
Mountains are formed due to tectonic movement of plates and volcanism in the Earth's crust.
Usually, Great mountain ranges formed along the boundaries of these plates.
Tectonic plates move at a rate of 10 cm per year which is very slow and due to the slow rate of plate movement formation of mountains takes millions of years.
Types of Mountains
There are three types of mountains: volcanic, fold, and block.
These mountains are formed when the Earth's crust moves, crumple, and dive due to plate tectonics.
Due to Compressional forces and isostatic upliftment, the surface rock of the surrounding area lifted upward forms a landform higher than the surrounding area. The majority of mountains are formed on tectonic plate boundaries.
Volcanic mountains
When magma from the mantle below the earth crust is formed it reaches the surface through conduit pipe and forms hotspot or mid-oceanic ridges (undersea) it forms volcanic mountain like shield volcano or composite volcanoes.
Examples of volcanic mountains are Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.
The magma that solidifies below the crust also forms dome mountains like Navajo Mountain in the US.
Fold mountains
Folding occurs when two plates collide or move towards each other (also called convergence) and in this way, the mountains formed are called fold mountains.
Folding can be either symmetrically or asymmetrically.
The upward folding is called anticlines and the downward folding is called inclines.
Examples The Himalayas in Asia, The Andes Mountains in South America and the Balkan Mountains and the Jura Mountains are examples of fold mountains.
Block mountains
Block mountains are formed due to faulting in the crust. When rocks on one side of a fault rise above to the other and form a mountain is called horst(uplifted blocks) whereas the blocks which go downward are called graben.
Block mountains form rift valleys.
Examples are the Vosges, the Basin of Western North America and the Rhine valley.
How are mountains measured?
There are three ways to measure mountains
1. Sea level to the summit
2. The base of the mountain to summit
3. The distance between the summit of the mountain and the center of the earth.
What is the difference between the highest and tallest mountains?
The highest mountain is measured from sea level whereas the tallest mountain is measured from the base of the mountain.
Examples, Everest is the highest mountain in the world which is 29,035 feet above sea level and Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on Earth 13,796 feet above sea level.
If its base is measured it is 33,465 feet.
Some Mountain Features
When two glaciers erode opposite sides of a mountain a narrow ridge formed which is called Arete.
The head of a glacier-formed bowl-shaped depression at the foot of a mountain called Cirque.
The rock which is projected outward from the main cliff is called crag
When multiple glaciers form sharp peaks. It is called Horn.
The Alluvium left behind by glaciers after melting is called Moraine.
A valley or way between mountains is called Pass.
The tip or highest point of a mountain is called Peak.
A long narrow top of a mountain is called Ridge.
The side of a mountain is called its Slope.
The steep side of the mountain is called Face.
When snow is compacted into ice, glaciers are formed.
Leeward side - The wind moves towards the mountain is called the windward side and the opposite of this is the leeward side.
Leeward side gets less rain as compared to the windward side because when moisture-laden winds come towards mountains it goes upward and forms a cloud and gets precipitated and after precipitation when it moves towards the leeward side the moisture content gets lower in clouds and so less rain.
What is the highest mountain in the world?
The highest mountains on each continent in this Earth is as follows
ASIA - Mount Everest
Mount Everest - Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world located in the Himalayas of Asia having a height of 29,035 ft (8,850m) above sea level. Mount Everest grows about 6.1 cm per year.
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| Mount Everest |
SOUTH AMERICA — Aconcagua
Aconcagua is the second-highest mountain in the world and the highest mountain of South America located in the Andes mountain range, Argentina. Its height is 6,960.8 meters (22,837 feet), and also it is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
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| Mount Aconcagua |
NORTH AMERICA — Denali (Mount McKinley)
Denali is the tallest mountain on Earth and the third highest in the world. Denali is located in North America. The elevation of the mountain is 6,190 meters (20,310 feet) above sea level.
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| Denali |
AFRICA — Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro is the fourth highest mountain in the world and the highest mountain in Africa. Its height is about 4,900 meters (16,100 feet) from its base to 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level. Mount Kilimanjaro is a volcanic mountain and it is having three volcanic cones, “Kibo”, “Mawenzi”, and “Shira.”
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| Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania |
EUROPE — Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus is the fifth highest mountain in the world and the highest mountain in Europe.
Mount Elbrus is an example of a volcanic mountain and it is a dormant volcano.
Elbrus has two peaks west and east with dormant volcanic domes. The height of the west peak is 5,642 meters (18,510 feet) and the height of the east summit is 5,621 meters (18,442 feet).
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| Mount Elbrus |
OCEANIA — Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid)
Puncak Jaya is the highest mountain in the Australian continent and sixth highest mountain in the world. The height of this mountain is 4,884 meters (16,024 feet) above sea level.
Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia, at 2,228 meters (7,310 feet) above sea level.
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| Mount Kosciuszko |
ANTARCTICA — Vinson Massif
Mount Vinson is the seventh highest mountain in the world and the highest peak of Antarctica. The height of Mount Vinson is 4,897 meters. (16,066 feet).
Climate and mountains
At higher elevations, the Climate of the mountains becomes colder due to radiation and convection.
Sunlight hits the ground and heats it up which in turn heats the air at the surface. Hot air expands and becomes lighter due to low density and rises up and transfer heat. This process is called convection.
The rise and fall of air mass without exchanging heat is known as an adiabatic process, depends upon pressure and temperature.
If the temperature decreases the pressure gets lower.
The rate at which temperature decreases with altitude is known as the adiabatic lapse rate, The approximate range of adiabatic lapse rate is 9.8 °C per kilometer (or 5.4 °F (3.0 °C) per 1000 feet) of altitude.
The water vapor present in the atmosphere contains latent heat of vaporization, which cools down the hot air eventually becomes saturated and loses the capacity to hold water vapor which then forms clouds after losing heat and changes dry adiabatic lapse rate to the moist adiabatic lapse rate (5.5 °C per kilometer or 3 °F (1.7 °C) per 1000 feet).
Mountain and Ecology: Montane ecology
The cold climate of mountains also affects the plants and animals living in the mountains.
A mountain is a home to different biomes including tundra, taiga, grasslands, temperate forests, etc.
The plants and animals of mountains are adapted to a narrow range of climate.
Trees cannot grow at the highest altitudes, and alpine type of vegetation is found on mountains such as tundra.
Mountains and humans
The highest tolerable altitude is at around 5,950 meters (19,520 ft).
With an increase in height, atmospheric pressure decreases and deficiency of oxygen occurs for breathing and less protection against solar radiation.
Above the height of 8000 meters, there is not enough oxygen for breathing. This zone is called the death zone.
Mount Everest and Mount K2 are in the death zone.
Mountain societies and economies
Mountains are less suitable for human habitation due to its harsh weather and also land is not suitable for agriculture too.
Rivers are originated from mountains, human depends on mountains for water.
In worlds, geopolitics mountains act as "natural boundaries" between polities. Their height can influence weather phenomenon and provide protection from invading armies.
Mountaineering
Mountaineering, also known as mountain climbing.
Mountaineering consists of three areas: rock-craft, snow-craft, and skiing, depending on the way chosen are over rock, snow or ice.
A lot of Experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge is required to maintain safety.
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| First expedition to Mount Denali |
Mountains as sacred places
Mountains have a significance in religions and philosophical beliefs.
For example, Mount Olympos in Greece and Mount Fuji is also held to be sacred in Japanese culture, Mount Brandon by Irish Catholics, The Himalayan mountain peak of Nanda Devi is also associated with the Hindu goddesses Nanda and Sunanda.
Some Interesting Facts about Mountains
The farthest point from the center of the earth is the Chimborazo peak in Ecuador.
It is actually 6,384 kilometers (3,944 miles) far from the Earth’s core, which makes it 2 kilometers higher than the Himalayas due to differences in the diameter of the planet in different continents.
The place on Earth that is closest to the moon and outer space is also Chimborazo.
The highest mountain of the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars having a height of 21,171 meters (69,459 feet).
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