Mountains

Mountains info, ideas, and photos

Everest from Tibet at Sunset
Photo: Topgold, through a Creative Commons Attribution License

Mountains are large land forms that reach far above the surrounding topography and usually form one or more summits.


Several different types of mountains exist:

Volcanic mountains form through an upwelling of igneous lava. Two main types of volcanoes are shield volcanoes, the flatter, dome shaped volcanoes formed from more viscous lava, and stratovolcanoes, the more classically shaped tall, conical volcano, formed from more liquid lava. Mount Rainier is a good example of a shield volcano, steeper on the sides and flatter on top. Mount Fuji in Japan is a classic stratovolcano.

Fault Block Mountains form when the continental crust is broken up and large sections are uplifted or fall. The Main Himalayan range in Asia, as well as the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California are a good examples of fault block mountains.

Fold mountains from where plates collide but don't subduct. The Appalachian mountains, for example, Mount Washington and the the Presidential Range of New Hampshire, and the foothills of the Himalayas are good examples of folded mountains.

Erosional mountains are formed when layers of sedimentary rock are eroded by water and wind. Many of the mountains of the American Southwest, North Africa, and Western China are erosional mountains.

U.S. Mountains
Mountains of South and Central America
Mountains of Europe
Mountains of Asia
Mountains of Africa
Mountains of Oceana
Mountains of Canada


Himalayas
Rockies
Alps
Andes