Questions tagged [mountains]
Questions regarding large land masses that reach high above the surrounding terrain, usually forming a peak.
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Why the difference between Italian coastlines and mountain ranges?
Italy’s relatively straight, parallel coastlines in the main part of the “boot” seem surprising given how the Apennines snake through it, from one side to the other and back. Don’t coastlines usually ...
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Is there a physical limit to the heights of mountains? [duplicate]
I am reading a fantasy novel where there is a mountain range where the average mountain height is 10 miles, so some higher some lower, but all extremely high.
This got me wondering if such a mountain ...
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1answer
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How to properly distinguish a transversal valley from a longitudinal valley?
I'm confused about how to distinguish the two. Prior to making this question. I've read the wikipedia entry on the subject but it mentions that for example a transverse valley makes 90 degrees with ...
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1answer
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Terracing in Mahad
my first time here!
I was going down the rabbit hole after watching a video on YouTube that made me want to read about it on Wikipedia.
It led me to this Picture:
(View from Varandha Pass near Mahad ...
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Are marine fossils in the mountain happens due to lower sea levels?
https://9gag.com/gag/aBme0M2
This one says it is
I am not sure whether to ask this in geology or biology.
How does marine fossils show up in mountains?
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1answer
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How did Mount Evans become a mountain?
Multiple websites state that the mountain, which is in Colorado, was formed by an intrusion of magma about 1.4 billion years ago, forming a batholith.
On the other hand, the rocky mountains are said ...
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Why is Olympus Mons the largest volcano in the whole solar system?
Why is it that the volcanoes found in the Tharsis Montes region near the Martian equator, (one of which is Olympus Mons) so much larger than those found on Earth. In comparison, Hawaii's Mauna Loa, ...
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How do mountain springs get their water?
I am curious how do mountain springs get their water. The water flowing from them eventually forms rivers.
Is it only from rain and snow? Or does water also come from underground-below the mountain (...
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Could the speed in which the plate is moving affect how quickly mountains rise?
In an episode of History Channel's How the Earth Was Made, there was a remark when India left the rest of Gondwana 80 million years ago only to collide with mainland Asia 50.5 million years ago. The ...
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1answer
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How Old Are the Verkhoyansk Mountains in Northeastern Russia?
The multi-brown "hand" at the middle of this image is the Verkhoyansk Mountain Range in northeastern Russia. The best information I got regarding its age is simply "Cretaceous". ...
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1answer
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Why are there no mountains higher than ~10 km? [duplicate]
Mars have several mountains above 10 km, with the highest being around 22 km (full list for Solar System here). Same for Io, Jupiter's moon. In contrast, the Earth has no mountain higher than 10.2 km (...
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Cloud Formations Near Capetown
Why do clouds form a 'tablecloth' which exactly fits the top of Table Mountain near Capetown, South Africa? Something about the table top tailors the clouds to fit it exactly. The thickness is smooth ...
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Volcanism and Earthquakes in Borneo [closed]
Mount Kinabalu is a 13,400 foot mountain in North Borneo formed by volcanism about ten million years ago. What caused this volcanism, why has volcanism ceased in Borneo, and what was the cause of the ...
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Temperate Rainforests
I have heard that the Appalachian Mountains is qualified as a temperate rainforest. What qualifies a temperate rainforest and what makes the Appalachian Mountains a temperate rainforest?
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Does erosion make mountains become higher?
Recently at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, I saw a display set that claimed erosion makes mountains rise higher, counterintuitively. The explanation was that the material removed ...
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What is the impact of divergent tectonic plates on old mountain ranges?
I found this question, which is similar to what I'm wondering, but my question is slightly different:
What happens if a new divergent boundary forms in a way that bisects a mountain range, especially ...
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2answers
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How do fold mountains form?
I know mountains form due to the collision of tectonic plates. But how does such a slow collision have such great impact as to create huge mountains.
Is there any intuitive explanation for this?
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1answer
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Precipitation and Elevation
Does precipitation increase or decrease as elevation increases? Because I heard that in the mountains they get more precipitation due to the orographic effect and how the mountains drain the moisture ...
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1answer
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Thunderstorms in Mountains
When you’re in the mountains for example like in the Appalachian Mountains, is thunder heard more easily from further away in the mountains rather than if you aren’t in the mountains?
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Height of Everest from base to top
It's relatively well known that Everest is the highest mountain above sea level, and that Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the tallest mountain from base to top.
But how tall is Everest from base to top? Or to ...
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Are the cores of every mountain range igneous?
Every volcano is a mountain, but not every mountain is a volcano. Still, it strikes me that--at least for the mountain ranges I can think of in this moment--they all seem to have igneous cores. Is ...
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1answer
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Are the Olympic Mountains (in Washington state) geologically unique?
So it is my understanding the Washington's Olympic Mountains are basaltic mountains. The reason is that they formed from the upthrust of Ocean crust rather than continental crust as the Farallon plate ...
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1answer
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What is the History of the Brooks Range?
This here is a map of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska:
As you can see, it is an inland range shaped in a downward curve. Why is that? What is the history of the uplift of the Brooks Range? How ...
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1answer
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Does subduction of continental crust happen at continental-continental convergent boundaries?
What exactly happens at a continental-continental (cc) convergent boundary? I read myself through the web for the last few days and what I came up with is that such a boundary will start as an oceanic-...
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How high could snow form on a mountain?
I was reminded recently of a moment in the Eragon books where the main characters see a "tall" mountain range, and then after a minute realize that the white sky stretching up above them is just ...
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1answer
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Which mountains (or hills) are visible from both Boston and Rhode Island?
In the description of the Norse exploration of America, there are two places mentioned, "Hop" and "Straumfjord", with some relationship to the same mountains.
E.g. The finding of Wineland the Good, p....
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How to figure the MODIS snow cover against different elevation zones?
I am working on MOD10C2 (8days snow cover), when I clip the MODIS snow cover against different zones of elevation the results was against general trend .i.e. the higher elevation was showing lower ...
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Why are the mountains predominately grey or dark brown?
Observing many photos of mountains one can assume that most of the mountains are grey or brown. See also the mountain article at Wikipedia.
There are however several ways a mountain can form, which ...
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1answer
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what is the best way to detect spatial and temporal pattern of precipitation in mountainous region?
The study area rang from 500 to 8000 m above ground and distributed into 4 elevation classes, above 5000,4-5000, 3-4000, below 3000 m above ground. This region has different climate zone/precipitation ...
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Why is the night very bright in the Himalayas?
Some years ago I had the chance to climb the Himalayas. Not the Everest of course, but the Annapurna Base Camp which is about 4km above sea level.
During the night of the stay I went out to do some ...
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1answer
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Why is the diurnal temperature range on the Cascade volcanoes so small?
Ski-mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest I am frustrated that the snow pack isn't refreezing at night.
There is about a 20F difference between the day and night temperatures in Seattle. Looking at ...
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Is the sun brighter at higher altitudes?
I was wondering since UV index is higher as elevation increases, is the brightness of the sun changing as elevation increases?
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The coloration of the Kopet Dag Mountains
Why are the Kopet Dag Mountains (on the border between Iran and Turkmenistan) coloured much like the Bulgarian flag?
[Link to satellite imagery in Google Maps]
(Location is 37.548903 North, 59.033423 ...
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1answer
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What did tunnel digging teach us about the formation of chains of mountains?
Since tunnelling is like making a giant horizontal core sample, what did the analysis of the extracted rocks teach us? Is the inside homogeneous or layered, are there "deformations", etc?
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Volcanoes in the Alps and Himalayas and the subduction of Tethys Sea
Geologist have theorized that the Tethys Sea subducted under Eurasian plates. But where are the volcanoes that would have resulted due to this? Where are the volcanoes in the Alps and the Himalayas?
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How did the Ural mountains form?
A nice picture for "how mountains formed" on Earth is due to the motion of tectonic plates. As the plates crash together, mountains may get "pushed upwards". However, a quick look at a map of the ...
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1answer
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What separates the Karakoram Range, the Hindu Kush, and the Himalayan Range?
In Google Maps, I don't see any boundary between the Karakoram (a.k.a. Karakorum) Range, the Hindu Kush, and the Himalayan Range. What separates these ranges?
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How could this “aztec temple” mountain (or volcano) have been formed on Antarctica? [duplicate]
[Update: This was not a duplicate of the other question since the mountain shape is rather different. This was already stated in my question below.]
This question is a bit similar to this other ...
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1answer
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Why is Massanutten mountain so dramatically different than surrounding mountains?
See this aerial view from google maps. Massanutten is in the foreground, as straight as an arrow. The Appalachians are on either side, looking like more typical mountains, zig-zagging with ...
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how high was mount vesuvius (mount somma?) before it erupted in AD 79?
I guess the highest point of the Mount Vesuvius / Mount Somma complex is currently 1,281 metres (4,203 feet). My question is: how tall was it before it erupted in AD 79?
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How Do Plateaus Really Form?
Any time I hear the word "plateau", I usually associate it with the tallest in the world, Tibet. Anyone who looks closely at a map will see that the southern line of the plateau parallels the ...
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How could this pyramidal Mountain have been formed?
How could this pyramidal peak have been formed in Antarctica? Little is known about it as far as I know but what is known is that its miles away from any existing plate boundary and its shape is also ...
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1answer
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What causes this striped rock formation?
I was hiking a very popular trail in Akamina-Kishnena Provincial Park, and noticed these strange lines in the rocks on top of the mountain:
The lines were parallel to each other, and were on both ...
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1answer
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How are 'road-like passages' between Himalayan mountains formed?
If you take a look at this picture you can see what looks like almost nicely cut out 'roads' between the mountains.
What forces are responsible for this?
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Is there a list of instances where mountains that have been mined out of existence?
Reading the Wikipedia entry for the Australian town of Broken Hill, I came across the following piece of trivia (emphasis mine):
The "broken hill" that gave its name to Broken Hill actually ...
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What causes jagged appearance of mountains in SE Asia?
For some time now, I've noticed that mountains in southeast Asia seem to be unusually "jagged" with steep surfaces. My basic knowledge of how mountains are formed (via geologic processes) tells me ...
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Lake Manasarovar v.s. Lake Rakshastal: fresh-water v.s. salt-water
In Tibetan Plateau, about 4600m elevation, If Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal ("lake of the demon" ) used to be the same lake, but due to the tectonic activity now they are separated to two by ...
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Do divergent tectonic plates destroy mountains?
Tectonic plates meeting (convergent plates) form mountains. But if those plates change direction (which I am just assuming they can over time, I have no idea if it's true) and start pulling apart (...
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Why are parts of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco flat?
A couple of months ago I traveled into the Moroccan Atlas Mountains. Many times I have seen pictures of landmarks like this one of Aït Benhaddou which show apparently unnaturally flat mountain ...
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Which mountains are rising?
The Himalayas are rising--as many people have heard. What other mountain ranges are still rising at a rate faster than they are being worn down by erosion?
