50
votes
Accepted
Why is Olympus Mons the largest volcano in the whole solar system?
This is mostly due to the fact that Mars does not have plate tectonics. Therefore the plate stays above the hotspot without moving, allowing magma to rise and pile up at the same place for millions ...
- 7,334
27
votes
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Why One Side of Mountain Range is Lush
The Cascade Mountain Range in the US Pacific Northwest is a good example to use to explain this. The predominant wind direction is from the West - over the Pacific Ocean. The air over the ocean picks ...
- 4,429
22
votes
Accepted
Why is Mauna Kea taller than the maximum height possible on Earth?
Since over half of the height of Mauna Kea is under water, you need to consider the buoyancy effect. Instead of a density of $3 \times 10^3\ \mathrm{kg/m^3}$, the underwater portion has a net density ...
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17
votes
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How did the Ural mountains form?
The Ural mountains are one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth. They started forming about 300 Ma ago by the subduction of the oceanic crust once attached to the Kazakhstania plate under the ...
- 17.6k
17
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Are there any (land) hills/mountains with bases below sea level?
It's difficult, because to truly have a base below sea level the hill or mountain needs to be surrounded by locations below sea level on all sides. There aren't many spots on Earth's surface away ...
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16
votes
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Is there a reason most mountain ranges seem to run parallel to coastlines?
Mountain ranges are usually formed as orogeny where tectonic plates collides, known as convergent boundaries.
The continental plates have less density than the oceanic plates and the buoyancy results ...
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15
votes
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How could this pyramidal Mountain have been formed?
Such forms tend to be created by glacial activity, which, ahem, the ice-covered continent is known for. Much discussion of this in the related question in Skeptics: Are there three pyramids in ...
- 3,234
12
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How are 'road-like passages' between Himalayan mountains formed?
It's a glacier, it this case the Baltoro Glacier in Karakoram, Pakistan. The road-like pattern is formed as the glacier slowly flows towards lower altitude from a nearby ice-cap or accumulation zone. ...
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11
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Why is Mauna Kea taller than the maximum height possible on Earth?
Your calculation of maximum height has a precision of one significant figure, 10000 meters. That is consistent with the height of Mauna Kea to the same precision of one significant figure. The ...
- 3,800
11
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Could the speed in which the plate is moving affect how quickly mountains rise?
The height of the Himalayas
Like Keith McClary says in his answer, there really are two factors in creating growing/shrinking mountains.
Mountains grow due to various reasons. In the case of the ...
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10
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Himalayas are currently rising. What will be the highest point they can reach?
The Himalayas are indeed rising, but they are also being eroded at a comparable rate. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the maximum possible height of a mountain on Earth is only marginally ...
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9
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Why One Side of Mountain Range is Lush
I'll augment the other answer with an example. Consider a theoretical north-south oriented mountain range that rises 2000 m above sea level and the land on either side of the range is at sea level. A ...
- 14.1k
9
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Why are South African mountains short and flat?
I suspect you are referring to the mesas and buttes dotted around the Karoo - the large semi-arid plateau that makes up much of South Africa's interior. These are a product of the glacial and ...
- 111
9
votes
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What causes this striped rock formation?
Frost heaving of the striped variety
As soil freezes it expands, this slowly pushes coarser material outwards, (since no ice forms in the stones just between them). This forms in bands of coarse and ...
- 6,803
9
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Why is Olympus Mons the largest volcano in the whole solar system?
The other answer is already pretty good: No plate tectonics and no water erosion allows material to pile up in one place, and then stay put. Neither is the case on earth: The plate moves away from the ...
- 2,018
8
votes
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Why do rivers have 'wells' in mountains?
The presence of water underground has nothing to do with sea level in mountainous country.
When rain fails on a mountain, or snow falls on a mountain and the snow eventually melts, the water from the ...
- 24.1k
8
votes
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Volcanoes in the Alps and Himalayas and the subduction of Tethys Sea
The end of the Tethys Sea and the initiation of the continent-continent collision that formed the Himalayas is thought to have happened about 65 Ma ago (recent studies suggest maybe only 35 Ma). And ...
- 17.6k
8
votes
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Terracing in Mahad
The Deccan Traps are the geological formation that make up the Western Ghats in India. They were formed by massive volcanic eruptions that formed flood basalts. These are layers of lava that are ...
- 1,935
8
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Are there any (land) hills/mountains with bases below sea level?
Mauna Kea is a good example of this. It is generally considered as the tallest mountain on Earth. Even if its elevation is only 4205 meters above sea level, if you add the 6000 meters of its below sea ...
- 7,334
7
votes
Are there any photographs of mountains without significant erosion (on Earth or otherwise)
Fresh shield volcanoes that are dome-shaped may be of interest to you.
Shield volcanoes on Venus - The Pancake Domes
Shield volcanoes on Earth - The Galapagos Islands
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7
votes
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What causes jagged appearance of mountains in SE Asia?
David Hammen has already answered with the correct term in his comment.
Karsts are formed as water dissolve rocks, typically carbonates (as limestone or dolomite) or evaporites.
Karst landscapes ...
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7
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How could this pyramidal Mountain have been formed?
That mountain is mount Evans (3,950 m), located in the Sentinel Range in inner Antarctica (S 78.30698°, W 85.91698°), the highest mountain range in the continent.
(Map courtesy of @KeithMcClary see ...
- 17.6k
7
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Does erosion make mountains become higher?
This actually does happen, a feedback loop between the Himalayas and the Indian monsoon.
The Indian Plate is actively shoving itself under the Eurasian Plate, creating the Himalayas.
At the same ...
- 3,538
7
votes
When we're talking about the tree line, does it include mountain pines?
From Ann H Zwinger and Beatrice E Willard, 1972, Land Above the Trees, Harper and Row, New York. 1st edition. 1972. 489 pp. The following is from page 59...
Beyond treelimit, trees are so stunted ...
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6
votes
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What would change if our earth lacks mountains?
Well, mountains are not a cause. Mountains are an effect. It's not that we have earthquakes because we have mountains. We have mountains because we have earthquakes.
Earth as we know but without ...
- 23k
6
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Is it physically possible to see mountains from 500 km away?
I think what was observed is a superior mirage. A superior mirage occurs when warm air overlies a very cold layer of air, aka an inversion. You don't often see a superior mirage in lower latitudes, ...
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6
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Do divergent tectonic plates destroy mountains?
Quite the opposite. Divergent boundaries can cause mountain (well, actually volcano) building, because upwelling magma is part of the rifting process.
First and most importantly, the Mid-Ocean Ridge ...
- 3,538
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