Portal:Mountains

A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a very long period. Some valleys are formed through erosion by glacial ice. These glaciers may remain present in valleys in high mountains or polar areas.

At lower latitudes and altitudes, these glacially formed valleys may have been created or enlarged during ice ages but now are ice-free and occupied by streams or rivers. In desert areas, valleys may be entirely dry or carry a watercourse only rarely. In areas of limestone bedrock, dry valleys may also result from drainage now taking place underground rather than at the surface. Rift valleys arise principally from earth movements, rather than erosion. Many different types of valleys are described by geographers, using terms that may be global in use or else applied only locally. (Full article...)

Byam Martin Mountains

The Byam Martin Mountains are a rugged mountain range extending the length of Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the most northern ranges in the world and is an extension of the Baffin Mountains, which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordillera mountain system. The highest mountain in the range is Angilaaq Mountain at 1,951 m (6,401 ft), located near the island's center. Sharp peaks and ridges, divided by deep glacier-filled valleys, are typical features in the range and has been extensively modified by glacial erosion. The Byam Martin Mountains have not been conducive to habitation. While there are no permanent settlements in the Byam Martin Mountains, Inuit from Pond Inlet and elsewhere regularly travel to the range.

The Byam Martin Mountains are made up of Archean-Aphebian igneous crystalline rock and Proterozoic metasedimentary and metamorphic rock, such as gneiss. (Full article...)

A bornhardt ( /ˈbɔːrnˈhɑːrt/) is a dome-shaped, steep-sided, bald rock outcropping at least 30 metres (100 ft) in height and several hundred metres in width. They are named after Wilhelm Bornhardt (1864–1946), a German geologist and explorer of German East Africa, who first described the feature.

While bornhardt was originally used to sometimes denote a type of inselberg (literally island mountain—an isolated dome in an otherwise flat landscape), the term bornhardt is used in modern literature to refer to domed hills and mountains regardless of isolation; thus, not all bornhardts are inselbergs and not all inselbergs are bornhardts. Bornhardts are commonly composed of igneous rocks, often granites, but examples of gneiss, quartzite and arkose bornhardts exist. (Full article...)

Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level varies in different countries due to different reference points and historic measurement periods. Climate change and other forces can cause sea levels and elevations to vary over time. (Full article...)

The Nordic combined events have been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since 1924. The first competition involved 18 km cross-country skiing, followed by ski jumping. (Full article...)

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