Questions tagged [mountains]
Questions regarding large land masses that reach high above the surrounding terrain, usually forming a peak.
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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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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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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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Where can I find a map/GIS of exposed granite
Where can I find a map, or coordinate list, or make an appropriate GIS query to look for large exposed granite mountains world-wide. (E.g. Yosemite would show up.)
I've located several GIS systems ...
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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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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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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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How deep in the ocean is the Afro-Eurasian landmass
I realize this is a question that is a little loose with geological terms. My question was stimulated by a previous discussion on this exchange where people were debating what defines a "seamount" and ...
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Water gaps in mountain ranges: which is older, the river or the mountains?
"Water Gaps", where rivers cut through montains, seem impossible. What came first? If the mountain was there first, the river would have simply found lower ground. If the river was there first, it ...
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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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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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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?
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Himalayas are currently rising. What will be the highest point they can reach?
Himalayas are currently rising about 5 mm/year. What will be the highest point they can reach?
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Earthquakes and mountain height
Tectonic plate motion is the main reason for earthquakes in Italy.
I suppose that a large motion produces higher mountain (as Monte Bianco, Monte Rosa or Adamello) and strong earthquakes.
But strong ...
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What Happens When India Stops Hitting Asia
For the past 50 million years, India has been colliding with mainland Asia, creating the Himalayan mountain range.
It's not an issue of if the Himalayas would stop rising, but when. Articles of the ...
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At what altitude stalagmite/stalactite caves are located? What kind of rocks are needed to form them?
I know that there are many kinds of such caves, but I am looking for ones (if they exist, and I don't know) that contain stalagmite and stalactites and are located at high altitude inside a mountain. ...
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How are small mountains created?
I understand that large mountain ranges like the Rockies are created by the tectonic plates moving. I live in Arizona and there are a lot of mountains here but from what I understand, there are no ...
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Largest mountain range
The major mountain chains of Earth are found near:
Convergent (subduction) and convergent (collisional) boundaries or transform boundaries?
it should be both subduction and collisional right?
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Why do rivers have 'wells' in mountains?
Why/how can rivers have sources in places high above the sea level?
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What is the name for the forested areas in mountains below the treeline?
Taiga is the Russian word for big areas of forest wilderness in high latitude regions. What about forests in the mountains? What is the name for the forested areas in mountains which are below the ...
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Is there a meaningful concept of a mountain having a footprint area?
Is there a meaningful way to delimit a mountain as an area with a sharp boundary? Looked as as a 2D shape on the datum it would be a footprint of the mountain similar to a building footprint, while as ...
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Resources on Andean geology
I would like to begin studying the geology of the Andes, with particular respect to the tectonics and paleogeography of the region.
I have been searching on-line resources for some time and I would ...
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Why One Side of Mountain Range is Lush
I'm new to this site and certainly not someone with any real background in atmospheric science, so please forgive me if this question is a little stupid.
I recall learning in High School about ...
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Is it physically possible to see mountains from 500 km away?
Quoting from lecture notes of Andrew young at San Diego State University:
For less extreme, but very reliable, observations, consider some listed by Commander C. L. Garner of the Coast and Geodetic ...
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Why is the Yarkant River braided in the Pamir mountains?
The formation section in the braided river Wikipedia says that very erodible soil causes braided rivers. Intuitively, a rising mountain range like the Pamirs would not be easily erodible.
The ...
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Why is Mauna Kea taller than the maximum height possible on Earth?
We can calculate the maximum possible height of the mountain on earth.
If the elastic limit of a typical rock is $3 \times 10^8\ \mathrm{N/m}$ and its mean density is $3 \times 10^3\ \mathrm{kg/m^3}$,...
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What would change if our earth lacks mountains?
I just asked myself what is the role of the mountains on our planet earth? Well there's a well known role for the climate and weather.
But is there a kind of physical or geological role? What would ...
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Is there a reason most mountain ranges seem to run parallel to coastlines?
Eyeballing a map of the world, it seems that most mountain ranges that don't occur along continental fault lines run parallel to coastlines. Is there a reason for this?
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Is there a distinction between gap winds and channelled flow?
I have seen gap flows mentioned in the literature, for example [Gohm et al. 2004, Zängl 2002, Mayr et al. 2007]. Whiteman 2000 defines a gap as a "major erosional opening through mountain ranges" and ...
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Could a waterfall lashing onto a road lead to a landslide?
Here is a video of a waterfall lashing on to a mountain road, with vehicles driving under it.
https://youtu.be/cHaguj--YBc
There appears to be a big hole carved out right next to the road, possibly ...
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Is there an estimate for the length of the American Cordillera?
There was no geography site on Stack Exchange, so I thought the best place to ask about this was in Earth Science: Do we have an estimate for the length of the American Cordillera (the chain of ...
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What is the age of the Gamburtsev Mountains?
The mechanism for the formation of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in East Antarctica seems to be a combination of old volcanism and Cretaceous rifting (Ferraccioli et al., 2011). While the ...
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How much of a mountain is below the surface?
Is there some kind of math rule for how much does a mountain extend (depth) below the surface?
I found an article like this http://www.livescience.com/6595-depth-himalayan-mountain-roots-revealed....
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Farthest point from the center of the Earth
At first glance, this seems like such a simple question of "What's the highest point on Earth". However, I also know that the Earth isn't perfectly round. So that "highest point" may be in a ...
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What were the tallest mountain ranges in Earth's geological past?
There have been numerous episodes of mountain building in Earth's geological history, particularly through the super-continent cycle. Many mountains and mountain ranges have been eroded, as mentioned ...
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Determining the paleoelevation of mountain ranges
In New Delhi, a lot of people say that the
Aravali range used to be as tall as the Himalayas. How do scientists know that some mountain range used to be a lot taller millions of years ago, and what ...
