Mountain

A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them. The study of mountains is called Orography. Exogeology deals with planetary mountains, which in that branch of science are usually called montes (singular—mons). The highest mountain on Earth based from sea level is Mount Everest (8,848 m (29,029 ft)) in the Himalayas of Asia. The highest known mountain in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on the planet Mars at 21,171 m (69,459 ft). Mountains and mountain ranges on Earth are typically formed by the movement and/or interaction of lithospheric plates.

Classified by the geological processes that shape them, there are five major types of mountains:

Left to right: Mount Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam in the Himalayas

Mount Kinabalu, 4,101 metres (13,455 ft), Malaysia

The Adirondack Mountains of New York are remnants of an eroded plateau.

Fold mountains

Fold mountains are the most common type of mountains. They are formed due to collision of two plates, causing folding of the Earth's crust. Examples of fold mountains are the Himalayas of Asia and the Alps in Europe.

Fault-Block mountains

As the name suggests, fault-block mountains or fault mountains are formed when blocks of rock materials slide along faults in the Earth's crust. There are two types of block mountains, namely the lifted and tilted. Lifted mountains have two steep sides; whereas, the tilted type has one steep side and a gentle sloping side. Examples of fault-block mountains are found in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of the western United States.

Volcanic mountains

Volcanic mountains are formed due to volcanic eruptions where magma piles up on the surface of the Earth. Examples of volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. Inactive or extinct volcanic mountain include Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia, Cotopaxi in Ecuador and Aconcagua in Argentina/

Dome mountains

Dome mountains are formed when the hot magma rises from the mantle and uplifts the overlying sedimentary layer of the Earth's crust. In the process, the magma is not erupted, but it cools down and forms the core of the mountain. They are called dome mountains due to their appearance that resembles a dome shape. An example of a dome mountain is Navajo Mountain in the U.S. state of Utah.

Plateau mountains

Plateau mountains are formed erosion of an uplifted plateau. Examples of plateau mountains are in the Adirondack Mountains in the U.S. state of New York.