MOUNTAINS

CONCEPT

Among the most striking of geologic features are mountains, created by several types of tectonic forces, including collisions between continental masses. Mountains have long had an impact on the human psyche, for instance by virtue of their association with the divine in the Greek myths, the Bible, and other religious or cultural traditions. One does not need to be a geologist to know what a mountain is; indeed there is no precise definition of mountain, though in most cases the distinction between a mountain and a hill is fairly obvious. On the other hand, the defining characteristics of a volcano are more apparent. Created by violent tectonic forces, a volcano usually is considered a mountain, and almost certainly is one after it erupts, pouring out molten rock and other substances from deep in the earth.

HOW IT WORKS

Plate Tectonics

Earth is constantly moving, driven by forces beneath its surface. The interior of Earth itself is divided into three major sections: the crust, mantle, and core. The lithosphere is the upper layer of Earth's interior, including the crust and the brittle portion at the top of the mantle. Tectonism is the deformation of the lithosphere, and the term tectonics refers to the study of this deformation. Most notable among examples of tectonic deformation is mountain building, or orogenesis, discussed later in this essay.

The planet's crust is not all of one piece: it is composed of numerous plates, which are steadily moving in relation to one another. This movement is responsible for all manner of phenomena, including earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building. All these ideas and many more are encompassed in the concept of plate tectonics, which is the name for a branch of geologic and geophysical study and of a dominant principle often described as "the unifying theory of geology" (see Plate Tectonics).

CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE.

Tectonism results from the release and redistribution of energy from Earth's interior. This energy is either gravitational, and thus a function of the enormous mass at the planet's core, or thermal, resulting from the heat generated by radioactive decay. Differences in mass and heat within the planet's interior, known as pressure gradients, result in the deformation of rocks, placing many forms of stress and strain on them.

In scientific terms, stress is any attempt to deform an object, and strain is a change in dimension resulting from stress. Rocks experience stress in the form of tension, compression, and shear. Tension acts to stretch a material, whereas compression is a form of stress produced by the action of equal and opposite forces, whose effect is to reduce the length of a material. (Compression is a form of pressure.) Shear results from equal and opposite forces that do not act along the same plane. If a thick, hardbound book is lying flat, and one pushes the front cover from the side so that the covers and pages are no longer in alignment, is an example of shear.

Rocks manifest the strain resulting from these stresses by warping, sliding, or breaking. They may even flow, as though they were liquids, or melt and thus truly become liquid. As a result, Earth's interior may manifest faults, or fractures in rocks, as well as folds, or bends in the rock structure. The effects can be seen on the surface in the form of subsidence, which is a depression in the crust; or uplift, the raising of crustal materials. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions also may result.

Orogenesis

There are two basic types of tectonism: epeirogenesis and orogenesis. The first takes its namefrom the Greek words epeiros, meaning "mainland," and genesis, or "origin." Epeirogenesis, which takes the form of either uplift or subsidence, is a chiefly vertical form of movement and plays little role in either plate tectonics or mountain building.

Orogenesis, on the other hand, is mountain building, as the prefix oros ("mountain") shows. Orogenesis involves the formation of mountain ranges by means of folding, faulting, and volcanic activity—lateral movements as opposed to vertical ones. Geologists typically use the term orogenesis, instead of just "mountain building," when discussing the formation of large belts of mountains from tectonic processes.

PLATE MARGINS.

Plates may converge (move toward one another), diverge (move away from one another), or experience transform motion, meaning that they slide against one another. Convergence usually is associated with subduction, in which one plate is forced down into the mantle and eventually undergoes partial melting. This typically occurs in the ocean, creating a depression known as an oceanic trench.

There are three types of plate margins, or boundaries between plates, depending on the two types of crusts that interact: oceanic with oceanic, continental with continental, or continental with oceanic. Any of these margins may be involved in mountain formation. Orogenic belts, or mountain belts, typically are situated in subduction zones at convergent plate boundaries and consist of two types.

The first type occurs when igneous material (i.e., rock from volcanoes) forms on the upper plate of a subduction zone, causing the surface to rise. This can take place either in the oceanic crust, in which case the mountains formed are called island arcs, or along continental-oceanic margins. The Aleutian Islands are an example of an island arc, while the Andes range represent mountains formed by the subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental one.

The second type of mountain belt occurs when continental plates converge or collide. When continental plates converge, one plate may "try" to subduct the other, but ultimately the buoyancy of the lower plate (which floats, as it were, on the lithosphere) pushes it upward. The result is the creation of a wide, unusually thick or "tall" belt. An example is the Himalayas, the world's tallest mountain range, which is still being pushed upward as the result of a collision between India and Asia that happened some 30 million years ago. (See Plate Tectonics for more about continental drift and collisions between plates.)

REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS

What Is a Mountain?

In the 1995 film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, the British actor Hugh Grant plays an English cartographer, or mapmaker, sent in 1917 by his government to measure what is purportedly "the first mountain inside Wales." He quickly determines that according to standards approved by His Majesty, the "mountain" in question is, in fact, a hill. Much of the film's plot thereafter revolves around attempts on the part of the villagers to rescue their beloved mountain from denigration as a "hill," a fate they prevent by piling enough rocks and dirt onto the top to make it meet specifications.

This comedy aptly illustrates the somewhat arbitrary standards by which people define mountains. The British naturalist Roderick Peattie (1891-1955), in his 1936 book Mountain Geography, maintained that mountains are distinguished by their impressive appearance, their individuality, and their impact on the human imagination. This sort of qualitative definition, while it is certainly intriguing, is of little value to science; fortunately, however, more quantitative standards exist.

In Britain and the United States, a mountain typically is defined as a landform with an elevation of 985 ft. (300 m) above sea level. This was the standard applied in The Englishman, but the Welsh villagers would have had a hard time raising their "hill" to meet the standards used in continental Europe: 2,950 ft. (900 m) above sea level. This seems to be a more useful standard, because the British and American one would take in high plains and other nonmountainous regions of relatively great altitude. On the other hand, there are landforms in Scotland that rise only a few hundred meters above sea level, but their morphologic characteristics or shape seem to qualify them as mountains. Not only are their slopes steep, but the presence of glaciers and snow-capped peaks, with their attendant severe weather and rocky, inhospitable soil, also seem to indicate the topography associated with mountains.

Mountain Geomorphology

One area of the geologic sciences especially concerned with the study of mountains is geomorphology, devoted to the investigation of land-forms. Geomorphologists studying mountains must draw on a wide variety of disciplines, including geology, climatology, biology, hydrology, and even anthropology, because, as discussed at the conclusion of this essay, mountains have played a significant role in the shaping of human social groups.

From the standpoint of geology and plate tectonics, mountain geomorphology embraces a complex of characteristic formations, not all of which are necessarily present in a given orogen, or mountain. These include forelands and fore-deeps along the plains; foreland fold-and-thrust belts, which more or less correspond to "foothills" in layperson's terminology; and a crystalline core zone, composed of several types of rock, that is the mountain itself.

ENVIRONMENTAL ZONES.

Mountain geomorphology classifies various environmental zones, from lowest to highest altitude. Near the bottom are flood plains, river terraces, and alluvial fans, all areas heavily affected by rivers flowing from higher elevations. (In fact, many of the world's greatest rivers flow from mountains, examples being the Himalayan Ganges and Indus rivers in Asia and the Andean Amazon in South America.) Farming villages may be found as high as the 9,845-ft. to 13,125-ft. range (3,000-4,000 m), an area known as a submontane, or forested region.

The tree line typically lies at an altitude of 14,765 ft. (4,500 m). Above this point, there is little human activity but plenty of geologic activity, including rock slides, glacial flow, and, at very high altitudes, avalanches. From the tree line upward, the altitude levels that mark a particular region are differentiated for the Arctic and tropical zones, with much lower altitudes in the Arctic mountains. For instance, the tree line lies at about 330 ft. (100 m) in the much colder Arctic zone.

Above the tree line is the subalpine, or montane, region. The mean slope angle of the mountain is less steep here than it is at lower or higher elevations: in the submontane, or forested region, below the tree line, the slope is about 30°, and above the subalpine, in the high alpine, the slope can become as sharp at 65°. In the subalpine, however, it is only about 20°, and because grass (if not trees) grows in this region, it is suited for grazing.

It may seem surprising to hear of shepherds bringing sheep to graze at altitudes of 16,400 ft. (5,000 m), as occurs in tropical zones. This does not necessarily mean that people live at such altitudes; more often than not, mountain dwellers have their settlements at lower elevations, and shepherds simply take their flocks up into the heights for grazing. Yet the ancient Bolivian city of Tiahuanaco, which flourished in about a.d. 600—some four centuries before the rise of the Inca—lay at an almost inconceivable altitude of 13,125 ft. (4,000 m), or about 2.5 times the elevation of Denver, Colorado, America's Mile-High City.

Classifying Mountains

There are several ways to classify mountains and groups of mountains. Mountain belts, as described earlier, typically are grouped according to formation process and types of plates: island arcs, continental arcs (formed with the subduction of an oceanic plate by a continental plate), and collisional mountain belts. Sometimes a mountain arises in isolation, an example being Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Another example is Stone Mountain outside Atlanta, an exposed pluton, or a mass of crystalline igneous rock that forms deep in Earth's crust and rises. Many volcanoes, which we discuss later, arise individually, but mountains are most likely to appear in conjunction with other mountains. One such grouping, though far from the only one, is a mountain range, which can be defined as a relatively localized series of peaks and ridges.

RANGES, CHAINS, AND MASSES.

Some of the world's most famous mountain ranges include the Himalayas, Karakoram Range, and Pamirs in central Asia; the Alps and Urals in Europe; the Atlas Mountains in Africa; the Andes in South America; and the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountains, and Appalachians as well as their associated ranges in North America. Ranges affiliated with the Appalachians, for instance, include the Great Smokies in the south and the Adirondacks, Alleghenies, and Poconos in the north.

Several of the examples given here illustrate the fact that ranges are not the largest groupings of mountains. Sometimes series of ranges stretch across a continent for great distances in what are called mountain chains, an example of which is the Mediterranean chain of Balkans, Apennines, and Pyrenees that stretches across southern Europe.

There also may be irregular groupings of mountains, which lack the broad linear sweep of mountain ranges or chains and which are known as mountain masses. The mountains surrounding the Tibetan plateau represent an example of a mountain mass. Finally, ranges, chains, and masses of mountains may be combined to form vast mountain systems. An impressive example is the Alpine-Himalayan system, which unites parts of the Eurasian, Arabian, African, and Indo-Australian continental plates.

OTHER TYPES OF MOUNTAIN.

There are certain special types of orogeny, as when ocean crust subducts continental crust—something that is not supposed to happen but occasionally does. This rare variety of subduction is called obduction, and the mountains produced are called ophiolites. Examples include the uplands near Troodos in Cyprus and the Taconic Mountains in upstate New York.

Fault-block mountains appear when two continental masses push against each other and the upper portion of a continental plate splits from the deeper rocks. A portion of the upper crust, usually several miles thick, begins to move slowly across the continent. Ultimately it runs into another mass, creating a ramp. This can result in unusually singular mountains, such as Chief Mountain in Montana, which slid across open prairie on a thrust sheet.

Under the ocean is the longest mountain chain on Earth, the mid-ocean ridge system, which runs down the center of the Atlantic Ocean and continues through the Indian and Pacific oceans. Lava continuously erupts along this ridge, releasing geothermal energy and opening up new strips of ocean floor. This brings us to a special kind of mountain, typically resulting from the sort of dramatic plate tectonic processes that also produce earthquakes: volcanoes.

Volcanoes

Most volcanoes are mountains, and for this reason, it is appropriate to discuss them together; however, a volcano is not necessarily a mountain. A volcano may be defined as a natural opening in Earth's surface through which molten (liquid), solid, and gaseous material erupts. The word volcano also is used to describe the cone of erupted material that builds up around the opening or fissure. Because these cones are often quite impressive in height, they frequently are associated with mountains.

Though volcanic activity has been the case of death and destruction, it is essential to the planet's survival. Volcanic activity is the principal process through which chemical elements, minerals, and other compounds from Earth's interior reach its surface. These substances, such as carbon dioxide, have played a major role in the development of the planet's atmosphere, waters, and soils. Even today, soil in volcanic areas is among the richest on Earth. Volcanoes provide additional benefits in their release of geothermal energy, used for heating and other purposes in such countries as Iceland, Italy, Hungary, and New Zealand (see Energy and Earth). In addition, volcanic activity beneath the oceans promises to supply almost limitless geothermal energy, once the technology for its extraction becomes available.

FORMATION OF VOLCANOES.

As noted earlier, land volcanoes are formed in coastal areas where continental and oceanic plates converge. As the oceanic plate is subducted and pushed farther and farther beneath the continental surface, the buildup of heat and pressure results in the melting of rock. This molten rock, or magma, tends to rise toward the surface and collect in magma reservoirs. Pressure buildup in the magma reservoir ultimately pushes the magma upward through cracks in Earth's crust, creating a volcano.

Volcanoes also form underwater, in which case they are called seamounts. Convergence of oceanic plates causes one plate to sink beneath the other, creating an oceanic trench; as a result, magma rises from the subducted plate to fashion volcanoes. If the plates diverge, magma seeps upward at the ridge or margin between plates, producing more seafloor. This process, known as seafloor spreading, leads to the creation of volcanoes on either side of the ridge.

In some places a plate slides over a stationary area of volcanic activity, known as a hot spot. These are extremely hot plumes of magma that well up from the crust, though not on the edge or margin of a plate. A tectonic plate simply drifts across the hot spot, and as it does, the area just above the hot spot experiences volcanic activity. Hot spots exist in Hawaii, Iceland, Samoa, Bermuda, and America's Yellowstone National Park.

CLASSIFYING VOLCANOES.

Volcanoes can be classified in terms of their volcanic activity, in which case they are labeled as active (currently erupting), dormant (not currently erupting but likely to do so in the future), or extinct. In the case of an extinct volcano, no eruption has been noted in recorded history, and it is likely that the volcano has ceased to erupt permanently.

In terms of shape, volcanoes fall into four categories: cinder cones, composite cones, shield volcanoes, and lava domes. These types are distinguished not only by morphologic characteristics but also by typical sizes and even angles of slope. For instance, cinder cones, built of lava fragments, have slopes of 30° to 40°, and are seldom more than 1,640 ft. (500 m) in height.

Composite cones, or stratovolcanoes, are made up of alternating layers of lava (cooled magma), ash, and rock. (The prefix strato refers to these layers.) They may slope as little as 5° at the base and as much as 30° at the summit. Stratovolcanoes may grow to be as tall as 2-3 mi. (3.2-4.8 km) before collapsing and are characterized by a sharp, dramatic shape. Examples include Fuji, a revered mountain that often serves as a symbol of Japan, and Washington state's Mount Saint Helens.

A shield volcano, which may be a solitary formation and often is located over a hot spot, is built from lava flows that pile one on top of another. With a slope as little as 2° at the base and no more than 10° at the summit, shield volcanoes are much wider than stratovolcanoes, but sometimes they can be impressively tall. Such is the case with Mauna Loa in Hawaii, which at 13,680 ft. (4,170 m) above sea level is the world's largest active volcano. Likewise, Mount Kilimanjaro, though long ago gone dormant, is the tallest mountain in Africa.

Finally, there are lava domes, which are made of solid lava that has been pushed upward. Closely related is a volcanic neck, which often forms from a cinder cone. In the case of a volcanic neck, lava rises and erupts, leaving a mountain that looks like a giant gravel heap. Once it has become extinct, the lava inside the volcano begins to solidify. Over time the rock on the exterior wears away, leaving only a vent filled with solidified lava, usually in a funnel shape. A dramatic example of this appears at Shiprock, New Mexico.

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.

Volcanoes frequently are classified by the different ways in which they erupt. These types of eruption, in turn, result from differences in the material being disgorged from the volcano. When the magma is low in gas and silica (silicon dioxide, found in sand and rocks), the volcano erupts in a relatively gentle way. Its lava is thin and spreads quickly. Gas and silica-rich magma, on the other hand, brings about a violent explosion that yields tarlike magma.

There are four basic forms or phases of volcanic eruption: Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, and Peleean. The Hawaiian phase is simply a fountain-like gush of runny lava, without any explosions. The Strombolian phase (named after a volcano on a small island off the Italian peninsula) involves thick lava and mild explosions. In a Vulcanian phase, magma has blocked the volcanic vent, and only after an explosion is the magma released, with the result that tons of solid material and gases are hurled into the sky. Most violent of all is the Peleean, named after Mount Pelée on Martinique in the Caribbean (discussed later). In the Peleean phase, the volcano disgorges thick lava, clouds of gas, and fine ash, all at formidable velocities.

Accompanying a volcanic eruption in many cases are fierce rains, the result of the expulsion of steam from the volcano, after which the steam condenses in the atmosphere to form clouds. Gases thrown into the atmosphere are often volatile and may include hydrogen sulfide, fluorine, carbon dioxide, and radon. All are detrimental to human beings when present in sufficient quantity, and radon is radioactive.

Not surprisingly, the eruption of a volcano completely changes the morphologic characteristics of the landform. During the eruption a crater is formed, and out of this flows magma and ash, which cool to form the cone. In some cases, the magma chamber collapses just after the eruption, forming a caldera, or a large, bowl-shaped crater. These caldera (the plural as well as singular form) may fill with water, as was the case at Oregon's Crater Lake.

INFAMOUS VOLCANIC DISASTERS.

Volcanoes result from some of the same tectonic forces as earthquakes (see Seismology), and, not surprisingly, they often have resulted in enormous death and destruction. Some remarkable examples include:

• Vesuvius, Italy, a.d. 79 and 1631: Situated along the Bay of Naples in southern Italy, Vesuvius has erupted more than 50 times during the past two millennia. Its most famous eruption occurred in a.d. 79, when the Roman Empire was near the height of its power. The first-century eruption buried the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, where bodies and buildings were preserved virtually intact until excavation of the area in 1748. Another eruption, in 1631, killed some 4,000 people.
• Krakatau, Indonesia, a.d. 535 (?) and 1883: The most famous eruption of Krakatau occurred in 1883, resulting in the loss of some 36,000 lives. The explosion, which was heard 3,000 mi. away, threw 70-lb. (32-kg) boulders as far as 50 mi. (80 km). It also produced a tsunami, or tidal wave, 130 ft. (40 m) high, which swept away whole villages. In addition, the blast hurled so much dust into the atmosphere that the Moon appeared blue or green for two years. It is also possible that Krakatau erupted in about a.d. 535, causing such a change in the atmosphere that wide areas of the world experienced years without summer. (See Earth Systems for more on this subject.)
• Tambora, Indonesia, 1815: Another Indonesian volcano, Tambora, killed 12,000 people when it erupted in 1815. As with Krakatau in 535, this eruption was responsible for a year without summer in 1816 (see Earth Systems).
• Pelée, Martinique, 1902: When Mount Pelée erupted on the Caribbean island of Martinique, it sent tons of poisonous gas and hot ash spilling over the town of Saint-Pierre, killing all but four of its 29,937 residents.
• Saint Helens, Washington, 1980: Relatively small compared with earlier volcanoes, the Mount Saint Helens blast is still significant because it was so recent and took place in the United States. The eruption sent debris flying upward 1,300 ft. (396 m) and caused darkness over towns as far as 85 mi. (137 km) away. Fifty-seven people died in the eruption and its aftermath.
• Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991: Dormant for 600 years, Mount Pinatubo began to rumble one day in 1991 and, after a few days, erupted in a cloud that spread ash 6 ft. (1.83 m) deep along a radius of 2 mi. (3.2 km). A U.S. air base 15 mi. (24 km) away was buried. The blast threw 20 million tons (18,144,000 metric tons) of sulfuric acid 12 mi. (19 km) into the stratosphere, and the cloud ultimately covered the entire planet, resulting in moderate cooling for a few weeks.

The Impact of Mountains

Volcanic eruptions are among the most dramatic effects produced by mountains, but they are far from the only ones. Every bit as fascinating are the effects mountains produce on the weather, on the evolution of species, and on human society. In each case, mountains serve as a barrier or separator—between masses of air, clouds, and populations.

Wind pushes air and moisture-filled clouds up mountain slopes, and as the altitude increases, the pressure decreases. As a result, masses of warm, moist air become larger, cooler, and less dense. This phenomenon is known as adiabatic expansion, and it is the same thing that happens when an aerosol can is shaken, reducing the pressure of gases inside and cooling the surface of the can. Under the relatively high-pressure and high-temperature conditions of the flatlands, water exists as a gas, but in the heights of the mountaintops, it cools and condenses, forming clouds.

RAIN SHADOWS.

As the clouds rise along the side of the mountain, they begin to release heavy droplets in the form of rain and, at higher altitudes, snow. By the time the cloud crosses the top of the mountain, however, it will have released most of its moisture, and hence the other side of the mountain may be arid. The leeward side, or the side opposite the wind, becomes what is called a rain shadow.

Although they are only 282 mi. (454 km) apart, the cities of Seattle and Spokane, Washington, have radically different weather patterns. Famous for its almost constant rain, Seattle lies on the windward, or wind-facing, side of the Cascade Range, toward the Pacific Ocean. On the leeward side of the Cascades is Spokane, where the weather is typically warm and dry. Though it is only on the other side of the state, Spokane might as well be on the other side of the continent. Indeed, it is associated more closely with the arid expanses of Idaho, whereas Seattle belongs to a stretch of cold, wet Pacific terrain that includes San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

Much of the western United States consists of deserts formed by rain shadows or, in some cases, double rain shadows. Much of New Mexico, for instance, lies in a double rain shadow created by the Rockies in the west and Mexico's Sierra Madres to the south. In southern California, tall redwoods line the lush windward side of the Sierra Nevadas, while Death Valley and the rest of the Mojave Desert lies in the rain shadow on the eastern side. The Great Basin that covers eastern Oregon, southern Idaho, much of Utah, and almost all of Nevada, likewise is created by the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada-Cascade chain.

MOUNTAINS AND SPECIES.

One of the most intriguing subjects involved in the study of mountains is their effects on large groups of plants, animals, and humans. Mountains may separate entire species, creating pockets of flora and fauna virtually unknown to the rest of the world. Thus, during the 1990s, huge numbers of species that had never been catalogued were discovered in the mountains of southeast Asia.

The formation of mountains and other landforms may even lead to speciation, a phenomenon in which members of a species become incapable of reproducing with other members, thus creating a new species. When the Colorado River cut open the Grand Canyon, it separated groups of squirrels that lived in the high-altitude pine forest. Over time these populations ceased to interbreed, and today the Kaibab squirrel of the north rim and the Abert squirrel of the south are separate species, no more capable of interbreeding than humans and apes.

HUMAN SOCIETIES AND MOUNTAINS.

Although the Appalachians of the eastern United States are hundreds of millions of years old, most ranges are much younger. Most will erode or otherwise cease to exist in a relatively short time (short, that is, by geologic standards), yet to humans throughout the ages, mountains have seemed a symbol of permanence. This is just one aspect of mountains' impact on the human psyche.

In his 1975 study of symbolism in political movements, Utopia and Revolution, Melvin J. Lasky devoted considerable space to the mountain and its association with divinity through figures such as the Greek Olympians and Noah and Moses in the Bible. Clearly, mountains have proved enormously influential on human attitudes, and nowhere is this more obvious than in relation to the people who live in the mountains. Whether the person is a coal miner from Appalachia or a rancher from the Rockies, a Scottish highlander or a Quechua-speaking Peruvian, the mentality is similar, characterized by a combination of hardiness, fierce independence, and disdain for lowland ways.

These characteristics, combined with the harsh weather of the mountains, have made mountain warfare a challenge to lowland invaders. This explains the fact that Switzerland has kept itself free from involvement in European wars since Napoleon's time, and why the independent Scottish Highlands were long a thorn in England's side. It also explains why neither the British nor the Russian empires could manage to control Afghanistan fully during their struggle over that mountainous nation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Britain eventually pulled out of the "Great Game," as this struggle was called, but Russia never really did. Many years later, the Soviets became bogged down in a war in Afghanistan that they could not win. The war, which lasted from 1979 to 1989, helped bring about the end of the Soviet Union and its system of satellite dictatorships. More than a decade later, as the United States launched strikes against Afghanistan in 2001, a superpower once again faced the challenge posed by one of the poorest, most inhospitable nations on Earth.

But the independence of the mountaineer is deceptive; in fact, mountains have little to offer, economically, other than their beauty and the resources deep beneath their surfaces. In other words, they are really of value only to flatland tourists and mining companies. Since few mountain environments offer much promise agriculturally, the people of the mountains are dependent on the flatlands for sustenance. Gorgeous and rugged as they are, such mountainous states as Colorado or Wyoming might be as poor as Afghanistan were it not for the fact that they belong to a larger political unit, the United States.

WHERE TO LEARN MORE

A Geological History of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin (Web site). <http://www.uwmc.uwc.edu/geography/ribmtn/ribmtn.htm>.

Gore, Pamela. "Physical Geology at Georgia Perimeter College" (Web site). <http://www.gpc.peachnet.edu/~pgore/geology/geo101.htm>.

Kraulis, J. A., and John Gault. The Rocky Mountains: Crest of a Continent. New York: Facts on File, 1987.

Michigan Technological University Volcanoes Page (Web site). <http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/>.

Oregon Geology—Cascade Mountains (Web site). <http://sarvis.dogami.state.or.us/learnmore/Cascades.HTM>.

Prager, Ellen J., Kate Hutton, Costas Synolakis, et al. Furious Earth: The Science and Nature of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

Schaer, Jean-Paul, and John Rodgers. The Anatomy of Mountain Ranges. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.

Sigurdsson, Haraldur. Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. San Diego: Academic Press, 2000.

Silver, Donald M., and Patricia Wynne. Earth: The Ever-Changing Planet. New York: Random House, 1989.

Volcanoes, Glaciers, and Plate Tectonics: The Geology of the Mono Basin (Web site). <http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo/vvc/mono/vg&26pt.htm>.

KEY TERMS

ACTIVE:

A term to describe a volcano that is currently erupting.

COMPRESSION:

A form of stress produced by the action of equal and opposite forces, the effect of which is to reduce the length of a material. Compression is a form of pressure.

CONVERGENCE:

A tectonic process whereby plates move toward each other.

CRUST:

The uppermost division of the solid earth, representing less than 1% of its volume and varying in depth from 3 mi. to 37 mi. (5-60 km). Below the crust is the mantle.

DIVERGENCE:

A tectonic process whereby plates move away from each other.

DORMANT:

A term to describe a volcano that is not currently erupting but is likely to do so in the future.

EPEIROGENESIS:

One of two principal forms of tectonism, the other beingorogenesis. Derived from the Greek words epeiros ("mainland") and genesis ("origins"), epeirogenesis takes the form of either uplift or subsidence.

EXTINCT:

A term to describe a volcano for which no eruption has been known in recorded history. In this case, it is likely that the volcano has ceased to erupt permanently.

GEOMORPHOLOGY:

An area of physical geology concerned with the study of landforms, with the forces and processes that have shaped them, and with the description and classification of various physical features on Earth.

HOT SPOT:

A region of high volcanic activity.

LANDFORM:

A notable topographicalfeature, such as a mountain, plateau, or valley.

LITHOSPHERE:

The upper layer of Earth's interior, including the crust and the brittle portion at the top of the mantle.

MANTLE:

The thick, dense layer of rock, approximately 1,429 mi. (2,300 km) thick, between Earth's crust and its core.

MORPHOLOGY:

Structure or form or the study thereof.

MOUNTAIN CHAIN:

A series of ranges stretching across a continent for a greatdistance.

MOUNTAIN MASS:

An irregular grouping of mountains, which lacks the broad linear sweep of a range or chain.

MOUNTAIN RANGE:

A relatively localized series of peaks and ridges.

MOUNTAIN SYSTEM:

A combination of ranges, chains, and masses of mountains that stretches across vast distances, usually encompassing more than one continent.

OROS:

A Greek word meaning "mountain," which appears in such words as orogeny, a variant of orogenesis; orogen, another term for "mountain" and orogenic, as in "orogenic belt."

OROGENESIS:

One of two principal forms of tectonism, the other being epeiro-genesis. Derived from the Greek words oros ("mountain") and genesis ("origin"), oro-genesis involves the formation of mountain ranges by means of folding, faulting, and volcanic activity. The processes of oro-genesis play a major role in plate tectonics.

PLATE MARGINS:

Boundaries between plates.

PLATE TECTONICS:

The name both of a theory and of a specialization of tectonics. As an area of study, plate tectonics deals with the large features of the lithosphere and the forces that shape them. As atheory, it explains the processes that have shaped Earth in terms of plates and their movement.

PLATES:

Large, movable segments of the lithosphere.

SHEAR:

A form of stress resulting from equal and opposite forces that do not act along the same line. If a thick, hard-bound book is lying flat, and one pushes the front cover from the side so that the covers and pages are no longer aligned, this is an example of shear.

STRAIN:

The ratio between the change in dimension experienced by an object that has been subjected to stress and the original dimensions of the object.

STRESS:

In general terms, any attempt to deform a solid. Types of stress includetension, compression, and shear.

SUBSIDENCE:

A term that refers either to the process of subsiding, on the part of air or solid earth, or, in the case of solid earth, to the resulting formation. Subsidence thus is defined variously as the downward movement of air, the sinking of ground, or a depression in Earth's crust.

TECTONICS:

The study of tectonism, including its causes and effects, most notably mountain building.

TECTONISM:

The deformation of the lithosphere.

TENSION:

A form of stress produced by a force that acts to stretch a material.

TOPOGRAPHY:

The configuration of Earth's surface, including its relief as well as the position of physical features.

UPLIFT:

A process whereby the surface of Earth rises, as the result of either a decrease in downward force or an increase in upward force.

VOLCANO:

A natural opening in Earth's surface through which molten (liquid), solid, and gaseous material erupts. The word volcano is also used to describe the cone of erupted material that builds up around the opening or fissure.

Mountain

Mountains loom large on the face of the planet. These rocky landforms, which tower over all others on Earth, are places of extreme temperatures and winds. Reaching high into the atmosphere, mountains form a barrier against moving air, robbing it of any precipitation. The tops of many mountains are laden with glossy caps of snow and ice. The summits of the highest mountains are often shrouded in mists and clouds.

Mountains also loom large in people's imaginations. Throughout human history, many people have regarded these mysterious places as the domain or home of supernatural beings or gods. Others have seen them as the ultimate in human adventure. Mountain climbing is viewed as an extreme test of human endurance and desire. Many climbers have succeeded in scaling the summits of the world's highest mountains; others have died trying.

The shape of the land

A mountain is any landmass on Earth's surface that rises abruptly to a great height in comparison to its surrounding landscape. By definition, a mountain rises 1,000 feet (305 meters) or more above its surroundings and has steep sides meeting in a summit that is much narrower in width than the mountain's base. Any highland that rises no higher than 1,000 feet (305 meters) above its surroundings, has a rounded top, and is less rugged in outline than a mountain is considered a hill. High hills at the base of mountains are known as foothills.

Mountains cover approximately one-fifth of Earth's land surface. Although rare, a mountain can exist singly, such as Mount Kilimanjaro in northeast Tanzania. Most mountains, however, occur as a group, called a mountain range. An example of a mountain range is the Sierra Nevada,

which extends for about 400 miles (643 kilometers) in eastern California. A group of mountain ranges that share a common origin and form is known as a mountain system. The Sierra Madre, which arises just south of the U.S. border and extends south, is Mexico's chief mountain system. A group of mountain systems is called a mountain chain. The Pyrenees forms a mountain chain in southwest Europe between Spain and France. Finally, a complex group of mountain ranges, systems, and chains is called a mountain belt or cordillera (pronounced kor-dee-YARE-ah). The North American Cordillera runs from Alaska to Guatemala and includes all of the mountains and elevated plateaus in that vast region.

Like everything else in the natural world, mountains go though a life cycle. They rise from a variety of causes and wear down over time at various rates. The building up of mountains takes millions of years, and the process has been occurring since Earth's beginning over 4.5 billion years ago. Yet as soon as their rocks are exposed to the erosive actions of water and wind, mountains begin to fracture and dissolve. This explains the high and rugged appearance of young mountains and the lower and smoother appearance of older mountains. Some mountains that once existed on the planet hundred of millions of years ago have long since eroded away.

Orogeny (pronounced o-RAH-je-nee) is the word scientists use to describe the process of mountain building. (Orogeny comes from the Greek words oro, meaning "mountain," and geneia, meaning "born.") There are several distinct types of mountains, each having formed through varying causes: volcanic mountains, upwarped mountains, folded mountains, and fault-block mountains.

Mountain: Words to Know

Asthenosphere:

The section of the mantle immediately beneath the lithosphere that is composed of partially melted rock.

Anticline:

An upward-curving (convex) fold in rock that resembles an arch.

Convection current:

The circular movement of a gas or liquid between hot and cold areas.

Cordillera:

A complex group of mountain ranges, systems, and chains.

Crust:

The thin, solid outermost layer of Earth.

Erosion:

The gradual wearing away of Earth surfaces through the action of wind and water.

Fault:

A crack or fracture in Earth's crust along which rock on one side has moved relative to rock on the other.

Foothill:

A high hill at the base of a mountain.

Graben:

A block of Earth's crust dropped downward between faults.

Hill:

A highland that rises up to 1,000 feet (305 meters) above its surroundings, has a rounded top, and is less rugged in outline than a mountain.

Horst:

A block of Earth's crust forced upward between faults.

Lithosphere:

The rigid uppermost section of the mantle combined with the crust.

Magma:

Molten rock containing particles of mineral grains and dissolved gas that forms deep within Earth.

Magma chamber:

A reservoir or cavity beneath Earth's surface containing magma that feeds a volcano.

Mantle:

The thick, dense layer of rock that lies beneath Earth's crust.

Plates:

Large sections of Earth's lithosphere that are separated by deep fault zones.

Plate tectonics:

The geologic theory that Earth's crust is composed of rigid plates that "float" toward or away from each other, either directly or indirectly, shifting continents, forming mountains and new ocean crust, and stimulating volcanic eruptions.

Syncline:

A downward-curving (concave) fold in rock that resembles a trough.

Uplift:

In geology, the slow upward movement of large parts of stable areas of Earth's crust.

Technically, a volcano is a vent or hole in Earth's surface through which magma and other molten matter escapes from underground. Many volcanoes are classified as mountains because the magma (called lava once it reaches Earth's surface) ejected through the vent often accumulates to form a cone around the vent reaching thousands of feet in height. The shape of the accumulated landform (also known as a volcano), with a summit much narrower than its base, also fits the definition of a mountain. (For further information on volcanic landforms, see the Volcano chapter.)

An example of a volcanic mountain in North America is Mount Rainier in the state of Washington. Part of the Cascade Range mountain chain, it rises 14,410 feet (4,392 meters) in elevation. Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii is the world's largest volcano, rising 13,680 feet (4,170 meters) above sea level. Since it also extends more than 18,000 feet (5,544 meters) to the floor of the Pacific Ocean, Mauna Loa measures about 32,000 feet (9,754 meters) from its base to its summit. This makes it the tallest mountain on the planet (Mount Everest in the Himalayan Mountains is the tallest on land).

Most of the world's volcanic mountains lie not on land but underwater. The global mid-ocean ridge system is an undersea mountain system that snakes its way between the continents, encircling the planet like the seams on a baseball. It extends more than 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) in length. At the mid-ocean ridge, the seafloor splits apart and lava from below wells up into the crack or rift, solidifying and forming new seafloor. On either side of the rift lie tall volcanic mountains. The peaks of some of these mountains rise above the surface of the ocean to form islands, such as Iceland and the Azores. (For further information on oceanic landforms, see the Ocean basin chapter.)

Upwarped mountains are also formed by the action of rising magma. In this process, instead of passing through Earth's surface, such as it does in the formation of a volcanic mountain, magma remains underground, exerting pressure on the crust (the thin, solid outermost layer of Earth). This pressure gently uplifts a broad area of the crust, sometimes in the shape of a blisterlike dome. As the crust is uplifted, softer material on top may also be eroded or worn away by rivers or other flowing water, leaving sharp peaks and ridges. Examples of upwarped mountains in North America include the Adirondack Mountains in northeast New York and the Black Hills in western South Dakota and northeast Wyoming.

Fault-block and folded mountains are formed when stresses on Earth's crust cause it to crack and uplift or buckle and fold. As its name indicates, a fault-block mountain forms along a fault. A fault is a crack or fracture in Earth's crust along which rock on one side has moved relative to rock on the other. (For further information on faults, see the Fault chapter.) In the formation of a fault-block mountain, a section of the crust on one side of the fault is forced upward. The resulting mountains in the range may have steep clifflike faces on one side and gentler inclines on the other. The Teton Range of Wyoming is an example of fault-block mountains.

Folded mountains are the most common type on land. They are created when forces within Earth push adjacent sections of the crust into each other. When the sections collide, their edges along the line of collision buckle and fold in a wavelike pattern like a wrinkled rug. As the sections continue to push into each other, their leading edges are thrust higher and higher. This process has created some of the world's highest, and most famous, mountain ranges and systems. Folded mountains include those of the Appalachian Mountain system in eastern North America, the Alps mountain system in southern-central Europe, and the Himalayan mountain system in southwest Asia.

The Literary Landscape

"Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet. I understood on some dim, detached level that the sweep of earth beneath my feet was a spectacular sight. I'd been fantasizing about this moment, and the release of emotion that would accompany it, for many months. But now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn't summon the energy to care."

—Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air, 1997.

Forces and changes: Construction and destruction

Mountains form mainly as a result of movements of sections of Earth's crust in response to heat and pressure within the planet. Prior to the 1960s, geologists lacked a clear scientific explanation as to what moved continents and other sections of crust across the surface of the planet. The theory of plate

tectonics, developed at that time, provided the answer. It explains not only how mountains are built, but also how and why volcanoes erupt, why earthquakes occur, why the seafloor spreads, and how many other topographic features (physical features on Earth's surface) are formed. Like the theory of evolution in biology, plate tectonics is the unifying concept of geology.

Earth's heated interior

At Earth's center, the inner core spins at a rate slightly faster than the planet. A blisteringly hot mass of iron, the inner core has a temperature exceeding 9,900°F (5,482°C). Around this solid inner portion is a molten, or melted, outer portion. Above the two-layered core is a large section of very dense rock called the mantle that extends upward to the crust.

The mantle itself is separated into two distinct layers: a rigid upper layer and a partially melted lower layer. The crust and the uppermost layer together make up what geologists call the lithosphere (pronounced LITH-uh-sfeer). The part of the mantle immediately beneath the lithosphere is called the asthenosphere (pronounced as-THEN-uh-sfeer). This layer is composed of partially melted rock that has the consistency of soft putty. The lithosphere is broken into many large slabs or plates that "float" on the soft asthenosphere. In constant contact with each other, these plates fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

It is the intense heat energy created by the extreme temperatures in the core that cause the lithospheric plates to move back and forth across the surface of the planet. If this heat energy were not carried upward to Earth's surface, where it can be released in some manner, the interior of the planet would melt. This does not happen because circular currents, called convection currents, carry the energy from the core upward through the mantle.

Circulating currents

Convection takes place when material at a deeper level is heated to the point where it expands and becomes less dense (lighter) than the material above it. Once this occurs, the heated material rises. This process is similar to what happens in a pot of boiling water. As it begins to boil, water in a pot turns over and over. Heated water at the bottom of the pot rises to the surface because heating has caused it to expand and become less dense. Once at the surface, the heated water cools and becomes dense (heavier), then sinks back down to the bottom to become reheated. This continuous motion of heated material rising, cooling, and sinking within the pot forms the circular convection currents.

Convection currents form in the planet's interior when rock surrounding the core heats up. Expanding and becoming less dense, the heated rock slowly rises through cooler, denser rock that surrounds it in the mantle. When it reaches the lithosphere, the heated rock moves along the lithosphere's base, losing heat. Cooling and becoming denser, the rock then sinks back toward the core, only to be heated once again.

The pressure exerted by the convection currents underneath the lithosphere causes the plates to move. The plates, which vary in size and shape, are in constant contact with each other. When one plate moves, other plates move in response. This movement and interaction of the plates either directly or indirectly creates the major geologic features on Earth's surface, including mountains.

Plate movement and mountain building

The boundaries where plates meet and interact are known as plate margins. It is here where mountain building primarily occurs. The type of mountain that develops is dependent on the nature of the plate interaction. Plates interact by moving toward each other (converge), moving away from each other (diverge), or sliding past each other (transform). Most mountains are formed when plates converge.

When continental plates (those under the continents or landmasses) converge, the rocks in the collision area are compressed, shattered, and folded. Although normally brittle, rocks in Earth's crust can bend and fold like warm toffee when placed under great pressure and heat for long periods of time (thousands to millions of years). As the plates continue to push into each other, the rock layers are folded into a wavelike series of high points and low points. Geologists call the upfold on a curve (the peak) the anticline and the troughlike downfold (the valley) the syncline. Since tectonic plates move only a few inches per year (about as fast as fingernails grow), the process forming folded mountains takes millions of years. Folded mountains stand high because the crust beneath them is thickened as the two plates pile on each other in the collision process.

The situation is different when a continental plate and an oceanic plate converge. The crust under the oceans is made primarily of basalt, a type of rock that is denser (heavier) than the granite rocks that make up the crust under the continents. Because of this difference in density, the oceanic plate subducts or slides under the continental plate where they are pushed together. As the oceanic plate sinks deeper and deeper into Earth, intense pressure and heat in the mantle melts the leading edge of rock on the plate. This molten rock (magma) is less dense than the rock that surrounds it underground. As a result, it begins to rise toward Earth's surface through weakened layers of rock, collecting in underground reservoirs called magma chambers. When pressure from the expanding magma exceeds that of the overlying rocks, the magma is forced through cracks or vents in the planet's surface, forming volcanic mountains. Lines of volcanic mountains are usually formed on the forward edge of the continental plate.

The Andes mountain system, the world's longest system on land, runs for more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) along the western coast of South America. It features many volcanic mountains. They have formed on the edge of the continental South American Plate where the leading edge of the oceanic Nazca Plate is subducting below it. As it sinks, some crust on the top layer of the Nazca Plate is also scraped off at the base of the Andes, adding height to the system.

Volcanic mountains may also form where tectonic pressure is stretching continental crust beyond its limits. As the crust splits apart, magma rises and squeezes through the widening cracks or faults. The rising magma, whether it erupts, puts more pressure on the crust, producing

additional fractures. Ultimately, sections of the crust drop down between the faults, forming a rift valley. Volcanic mountains may then arise in or along the valley. Mount Kilimanjaro is an extinct volcano that stands along the East African Rift Valley in northeast Tanzania. It is the largest of many volcanoes in the area. Geologists believe that if the spreading of the rift valley continues, the edge of the present-day African continent will separate completely. The Indian Ocean will then flood the area, making the easternmost corner of Africa a large island.

Stress from the movement of tectonic plates can fracture continental crust. This stress or unequal pressure may be in different forms: tensional stress, which stretches or pulls rock; compressional stress, which squeezes and squashes rock; and shear stress, which changes the shape of rock by causing adjacent parts to slide past one another. When sudden stress near Earth's surface fractures brittle rock, it creates a fault in the crust.

Fault-block mountains form when tensional stress fractures the crust, separating it into blocks between faults. Pressure from magma moving underneath the surface can move the large blocks of rock (called fault blocks) either up or down. A block that is uplifted between faults is known as a horst; one that sinks is a graben (pronounced GRAH-bin). A large horst that is uplifted high between two parallel normal faults can form a fault-block mountain. More often, a fault-block mountain is created when one edge of a fault block is tilted upward at the fault a great distance in relation to the block on the other side. Sometimes these resulting landforms are referred to as tilted fault-block mountains.

Magma welling up beneath continental crust may not be able to reach Earth's surface through vents or move blocks of the crust located alongside faults. Instead, its high temperature and pressure may simply cause the overlying crust to fold and bubble gently outward into a dome shape. Over

millions of years, the magma beneath the dome cools and hardens into a solid core. During the same period, erosion wears away the softer materials on top, leaving the rugged, harder material beneath exposed as an upwarped mountain.

Spotlight on famous forms

Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming

Some 65 million years ago, an upwelling of magma under Earth's crust in the present-day Great Plains region formed the Black Hills. These rugged mountains, which rise some 2,500 feet (760 meters), cover an area of approximately 6,000 square miles (15,540 square kilometers). The highest point in the Black Hills is Harney Peak, which stands 7,242 feet (2,207 meters) in elevation.

The Black Hills region contains large amounts of many minerals, including a few rare ones. Uranium, feldspar, mica, and silver are among the important minerals found in the area. Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874. The Homestake Mine, the largest gold mine in the United States, produced more than $200 million worth of gold between 1876 and 2002.

The discovery of gold led to an invasion of white settlers into the Black Hills, forcing out local Native Americans from the area. The Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Omaha tribes believe the mountainous region is a sacred landscape. Two landforms the Native Americans consider particularly sacred in the Black Hills are Bear Butte and Devils Tower. Bear Butte, which rises 1,253 feet (382 meters) above the surrounding plain, is made of magma that rose, deformed the crust, then cooled and solidified. Devils Tower, standing 1,267 feet (386 meters), is a volcanic neck, the inner remains of an ancient volcano.

Cascade Range, Pacific Northwestern United States

The largest collection of volcanic mountains in the contiguous United States (connected forty-eight states) is the Cascade Range. This mountain chain extends about 700 miles (1,125 kilometers) in length. It runs south from British Columbia, Canada, through the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon before it becomes the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northeastern California. It parallels the edge of the Pacific Ocean, lying 100 to 150 miles (161 to 241 kilometers) inland from the West Coast of the United States.

The Cascade Range formed more than 30 million years ago when the oceanic Juan de Fuca Plate sunk beneath the continental North American Plate as the two plates converged. Rising magma from the leading edge of the oceanic plate created an arc of volcanic mountains. Many of these form the range's highest peaks. Mount Rainier, at 14,410 feet (4,392 meters) is the highest point in the Cascades. Other notable volcanic mountains in the range include Lassen Peak, Mount Hood, Mount Shasta, and Mount St. Helens, which last erupted in 1980. Since the Juan de Fuca Plate continues to sink beneath the North American Plate at a rate of about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) per year, many of the volcanoes in the range are still active.

Mount Everest, on the border of Tibet and Nepal

The collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate some 40 to 50 million years ago led to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains. The highest mountain system in the world, it features thirty mountains that rise above 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). The highest mountain in the system, and the highest on land anywhere in the world, is Mount Everest. Its frozen summit stands 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level.

Geologists estimate that when the Indian Plate moved into the Eurasian Plate, it did so at rates of up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) per year. Most plates move at rates one-fourth as fast. At present, the Indian Plate is still inching northward, and the Himalayan Mountains are rising by as much as 0.4 inch (1 centimeter) per year.

In 1865, Mount Everest was given its English name in honor of George Everest (1790–1866), who had served as the English surveyor general of India. Tibetans call the mountain Chomolongma, meaning Mother Goddess of the World. Nepalese call it Sagarmatha, meaning Goddess of the Sky. Both hold the mountain to be sacred.

Farthest from the Center of Earth

Although the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayan Mountains is the highest elevation on land, it is not the farthest point from the center of Earth. That distinction goes to the volcanic mountain Chimborazo (pronounced cheem-bor-AH–so) in the Andes mountain system in central Ecuador. The highest mountain in Ecuador, Mount Chimborazo rises to a height of 20,703 feet (6,310 meters). While it is 8,832 feet (2,540 meters) lower than that of Mount Everest, its summit is actually farther away from the center of Earth because of the equatorial bulge caused by the rotation of the planet.

Earth is not a perfectly round sphere or ball; it bulges around the equator (a shape scientists call an oblate spheroid). As it revolves around the Sun, Earth also rotates or spins on its axis like a top. At the equator, the rate of this motion is slightly more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) per hour. This constant circular motion of Earth creates centrifugal force, which is the tendency of an object traveling around a central point to fly away from that point. Riders on a merry-go-round experience this same force. The centrifugal force created by Earth's rotation causes the middle of the planet to bulge slightly and the north and south poles to flatten slightly. The diameter of Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole is 7,900 miles (12,711 kilometers), but through the equator it is 7,926 miles (12,753 kilometers).

Mount Chimborazo lies very near the equator; Mount Everest lies farther north. Because of the equatorial bulge, the summit of Mount Chimborazo is 7,153 feet (2,180 meters) farther away from the center of Earth than the summit of Mount Everest.

The first mountain climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest were Edmund Hillary (1919–) of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986) of Nepal on May 28, 1953. Since that time, more than 1,600 climbers have reached the summit of the world's tallest mountain. A record-breaking 54 climbers reached the peak on May 16, 2002. Not everyone who attempts to reach the top of Mount Everest is successful or even returns from the incredibly dangerous feat. The bodies of more than 160 climbers remain on the mountain.

Sierra Nevadas, California

The Sierra Nevada mountain range is the largest fault-block mountain formation in the United States. It runs mainly along California's eastern border for about 400 miles (643 kilometers). Its width varies from 40 to 80 miles (64 to 129 kilometers). The highest and most rugged mountains in the range occur in its southern portion. Here, 11 peaks rise more than 14,000 feet in elevation. The summits of many of these high mountains are continuously covered with snow. The highest peak in the range, Mount Whitney, rises to 14,495 feet (4,418 meters). It is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States (connected forty-eight states).

The blocks of crust that formed the range tilted upward along its eastern side. As a result, its eastern slope rises steeply while its western slope descends gradually to the hills in California's central valley. Forests filled with aspen, cedar, fir, pine, and sequoia trees dominate the western slope.

Cultural Landforms

To followers of the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism, Mount Kailas is a sacred place. Part of the Himalayan mountain system, Mount Kailas rises some 22,280 feet (6,790 meters) above the Tibetan Plateau. What is unique about the mountain is that it sits on the highest part of the plateau, and it stands isolated: Over the course of several days, an individual may walk completely around the mountain at its base. Four of Asia's largest rivers also have their sources within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of the mountain. They flow away from the mountain in four different directions, like spokes from the hub of wheel: the Indus to the north, the Karnali to the south, the Yarlung Zangbo to the east, and the Sutlej to the west.

Hindus believe Mount Kailas is the dwelling place of Shiva, one of the greatest gods of Hinduism. Along with the gods Brahma and Vishnu, Shiva forms the Hindu Supreme Being. Although difficult to define simply, Hinduism is based on the concept that all living things in the universe are in a constant cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction. Shiva is the god of destruction.

Tibetan Buddhists believe that Mount Kailas is the earthly form of mythical Mount Sumeru, the cosmic axis or center of the universe. This is the place where all planes, or realms of existence—spiritual and physical—are united.

The beauty of the Sierra Nevadas is immeasurable. Two of the nation's most-scenic national parks, Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park, are located within the range.

For More Information

Books

Barnes-Svarney, Patricia L. Born of Heat and Pressure: Mountains and Metamorphic Rocks. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1999.

Beckey, Fred W. Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 1999.

Hill, Mary. Geology of the Sierra Nevada. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1989.

Hubler, Clark. America's Mountains: An Exploration of Their Origins and Influences from Alaska Range to the Appalachians. New York: Facts on File, 1995.

Ollier, Cliff, and Colin Pain. The Origin of Mountains. New York: Routledge, 2000.

Rotter, Charles. Mountains: The Towering Sentinels. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2003.

Tabor, Rowland, and Ralph Taugerud. Geology of the North Cascades: A Mountain Mosaic. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 1999.

Wessels, Tom. The Granite Landscape: A Natural History of America's Mountain Domes, from Acadia to Yosemite. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2001.

Web Sites

Everest News. http://www.everestnews.com (accessed on September 1, 2003).

Geology of Rocky Mountain National Park. http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/parks/romo/ (accessed on September 1, 2003).

"Mountain Belts of the World." Geosciences 20: Pennsylvania State University. http://www.geosc.psu.edu/~engelder/geosc20/lect30.html (accessed on September 1, 2003).

"Mountain Building Learning Module." College of Alameda Physical Geography. http://www.members.aol.com/rhaberlin/mbmod.htm (accessed on September 1, 2003).

Mountains: An Overview. http://www.cmi.k12.il.us/~foleyma/profs/units/mountains2.htm (accessed on September 1, 2003).

Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia. http://www.peakware.com/encyclopedia/index.htm (accessed on September 1, 2003).

Egger, Anne E. "Plate Tectonics I: The Evidence for a Geologic Revolution." VisionLearning. http://www.visionlearning.com/library/science/geology-1/GEO1.1-plate_tectonics_1.html (accessed on September 1, 2003).

Mountain

A mountain is any landmass on Earth's surface that rises to a great height in comparison to its surrounding landscape. Mountains usually have more-or-less steep sides meeting in a summit that is much narrower in width than the mountain's base.

Although single mountains exist, most occur as a group, called a mountain range. A group of ranges that share a common origin and form is known as a mountain system. A group of systems is called a mountain chain. Finally, a complex group of continental (land-based) ranges, systems, and chains is called a mountain belt or cordillera (pronounced kordee-YARE-ah).

The greatest mountain systems are the Alps of Europe, the Andes of South America, the Himalayas of Asia, and the Rockies of North America. Notable single peaks in these systems include Mont Blanc (Alps), Aconcagua (Andes), Everest (Himalayas), and Elbert (Rockies). The Himalayas is the world's highest mountain system, containing some 30 peaks rising to more than 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). Included among these peaks is the world's highest, Mount Everest, at 29,028 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level. North America's highest peak is Mount McKinley, part of the Alaska Range, which rises 20,320 feet (6,194 meters).

Mountains, like every other thing in the natural world, go through a life cycle. They rise from a variety of causes and wear down over time at various rates. Individual mountains do not last very long in the powerfully erosive atmosphere of Earth. Mountains on the waterless world of Mars are billions of years old, but Earth's peaks begin to fracture and dissolve as soon as their rocks are exposed to the weathering action of wind and rain. This is why young mountains are high and rugged, while older mountains are lower and smoother.

Words to Know

Belt: Complex group of continental mountain ranges, systems, and chains.

Chain: Group of mountain systems.

Crust: Thin layer of rock covering the planet.

Lithosphere: Rigid uppermost section of the mantle combined with the crust.

Orogeny: Mountain building.

Plate tectonics: Geological theory holding that Earth's surface is composed of rigid plates or sections that move about the surface in response to internal pressure, creating the major geographical features such as mountains.

Range: Group of mountains.

System: Group of mountain ranges that share a common origin and form.

Mountain building

Mountain building (a process known as orogeny [pronounced o-RA-je-nee]) occurs mainly as a result of movements in the surface of Earth. The thin shell of rock covering the globe is called the crust, which varies in depth from 5 to 25 miles (8 to 40 kilometers). Underneath the crust is the mantle, which extends to a depth of about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) below the surface. The mantle has an upper rigid layer and a partially melted lower layer. The crust and the upper rigid layer of the mantle together make up the lithosphere. The lithosphere, broken up into various-sized plates or sections, "floats" on top of the heated, semiliquid layer underneath.

The heat energy carried from the core of the planet through the semi-liquid layer of the mantle causes the lithospheric plates to move back and forth. This motion is known as plate tectonics. Plates that move toward each other are called convergent plates; plates moving away from each other are divergent plates.

When continental plates converge, they shatter, fold, and compress the rocks of the collision area, thrusting the pieces up into a mountain range of great height. This is how the Appalachians, Alps, and Himalayas were formed: the rocks of their continents were folded just as a flat-lying piece of cloth folds when pushed.

When a continental plate and an oceanic plate converge, the oceanic plate subducts or sinks below the continental plate because it is more dense. As the oceanic plate sinks deeper and deeper into Earth, its leading edge of rock is melted by intense pressure and heat. The molten rock then rises to the surface where it lifts and deforms rock, resulting in the formation of volcanic mountains on the forward edge of the continental plate. The Andes and the Cascade Range in the western United States are examples of this type of plate convergence.

The longest mountain range on Earth is entirely underwater. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a submarine mountain range that extends about 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) from Iceland to near the Antarctic Circle. The ridge is formed by the divergence of two oceanic plates. As the plates move away from each other, magma (molten rock) from inside Earth rises and creates new ocean floor in a deep crevice known as a rift valley in the middle of the ridge. On either side of the rift lie tall volcanic mountains. The peaks of some of these mountains rise above the surface of the ocean to form islands, such as Iceland and the Azores.

Other mountains on the planet form as solitary volcanic mountains in rift valleys on land where two continental plates are diverging. Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, is an extinct volcano that stands along the Great Rift Valley in northeast Tanzania. The highest of its two peaks, Kibo, rises 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) above sea level.

The erosive power of water on plateaus can also create mountains. Mesas, flat-topped mountains common in the southwest United States, are such a case. They form when a solid sheet of hard rock sits on top of softer rock. The hard rock layer on top, called the caprock, once covered a wide area. The caprock is cut up by the erosive action of streams. Where there is no more caprock, the softer rock beneath washes away relatively quickly. Mesas are left wherever a remnant of the caprock forms a roof over the softer rock below. Mesa Verde in Colorado and the Enchanted Mesa in New Mexico are classic examples.

Mountains and weather

Mountains make a barrier for moving air, robbing it of any precipitation. The atmosphere at higher elevations is cooler and thinner. As dense masses of warm, moist air are pushed up a mountain slope by winds, the air pressure surrounding the mass drops away. As a result, the mass becomes cooler. The moisture contained in the mass then condenses into cool droplets, and clouds form over the mountain. As the clouds continue to rise into cooler, thinner air, the droplets increase in size until they become too heavy to float in the air. The clouds then dump rain or snow on the mountain slope. After topping the crest, however, the clouds often contain little moisture to rain on the lee side of the mountain, which becomes arid. This is best illustrated in the Sierra Nevada mountains of

California, where tall redwood forests cover the ocean-facing side of the mountains and Death Valley lies on the lee side.

[See also Plate tectonics; Volcano ]

mountains In Palestine there are two mountain chains, on each side of the River Jordan, running from north to south. Trade and communications therefore moved in these directions, and east–west routes were sparse and limited to the few gaps in the mountains. In the OT mountains dominate the history of Israel and are mentioned in many connections—for assemblies (Josh. 8: 33), military sites (1 Sam. 17: 3), and battles (1 Sam. 23: 26); they are also useful for pasture (Ps. 104: 18). The term ‘mount’ is used for particular peaks within the ranges, and two are especially important for Israel—Mount Sinai, where the covenant between God and Israel was enacted (Exod. 19: 23) and the Law received, and Mount Zion, regarded as the dwelling place of God (e.g. Ps. 68: 16).

Mountains are held to be awesome and sacred (Deut. 11: 29), which is a continuation of the Canaanite mythology, whose God Baal, controller of thunderstorms, was thought to live on Mount Zaphon. For the Hebrews too, God was a God of the mountains (1 Kgs. 20: 23, 28 f.); on a hill was the resting-place for the Ark (1 Sam. 7: 1) and on a hill ecstatic prophets congregated (1 Sam. 10: 5). Mount Zion, on which the Temple was built, will always be the ‘mountain of God’ (Pss. 2: 6; 78: 68–9), the ‘holy mountain’ (Isa. 8: 18). And this perspective about mountains reappears in the NT, notably in Matt. 5–7 where Jesus delivers the Sermon on the Mount, which is the counterpart of the old covenant now given to the New Israel as a new manifesto: Jesus is the New Moses who saves people from their servitude. So too, the glory of Jesus in the Transfiguration takes place on a mountain (Mark 9: 2) and on a mountain the Eleven are given their marching orders (Matt. 28: 16 ff.).

mountain high land mass projecting conspicuously above its surroundings and usually of limited width at its summit. Although isolated mountains are not unusual, mountains commonly form ranges, comprising either a single complex ridge or a series of related ridges. A group of ranges closely related in form, origin, and alignment is a mountain system; an elongated group of systems is a chain; and a complex of ranges, systems, and chains continental in extent is called a cordillera, zone, or belt.

Global Distribution and Impact on Humanity

Most of the great mountain systems now in existence were developed fairly late in geologic history. The greatest mountain masses are in North and South America, including the Andes, Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and Coast Ranges of the United States, Canada, and Alaska; and the Eurasian mountain belt, in which lie the Pyrenees, Atlas, Alps, Balkans, Caucasus, Hindu Kush, Himalayas, and other ranges. Among notable single peaks are Everest, K2 (Godwin-Austen), and Kanchenjunga in Asia; Aconcagua, Chimborazo, and Cotopaxi in South America; McKinley, Logan, and Popocatepetl in North America; Mont Blanc and Elbrus in Europe; Kilimanjaro, Kenya, and Ruwenzori in Africa.

Mountains have important effects upon the climate, population, economy, and state of civilization of the regions in which they occur. By intercepting prevailing winds they cause precipitation; regions on the windward side of a great range thus have plentiful rainfall, while those on its lee side are arid. Mountains are in general thinly populated, not only because the cold climate and rarefied atmosphere of high regions are unfavorable to human life, but also because the higher reaches of mountains are unfit for agriculture. Mountains frequently contain valuable mineral ores, deposited out of solution by water or by gases. Mountains act as natural barriers between countries and peoples; they determine the routes followed by traders, migrants, and invading armies. The difficulties of travel and communication in mountain regions tend to favor political disunity.

The Origins of Mountains

Mountains and mountain ranges have varied origins. Some are the erosional remnants of plateaus ; others are cones built up by volcanoes , such as Mt. Rainier in Washington, or domes pushed up by intrusive igneous rock (see rock ), such as the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Henry Mts., Utah. Fault-block mountains (see fault ) are formed by the raising of huge blocks of the earth's surface relative to the neighboring blocks. The Basin and Range region of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah is one of the most extensive regions of fault-block mountains.

All the great mountain chains of the earth are either fold mountains or complex structures in whose formation folding, faulting, or igneous activity have taken part. The growth of folded or complex mountain ranges is preceded by the accumulation of vast thicknesses of marine sediments. It was first suggested in the late 1800s that these sediments accumulated in elongated troughs, or geosynclines, that were occupied by arms of the sea. While some of the sediment was derived from the interior of the continent, great quantities of sediment were apparently derived from regions now offshore from the continent. For examples, sedimentary rocks of the Appalachian Mts. formed in a vast geosyncline that extended from the Gulf states northeastward through the eastern states and New England, and into E Canada. It is now recognized that great thicknesses of sediment can occur wherever there is subsidence (lowering of the earth's crust).

The best modern analogues of geosynclines appear to be the thick deposits of sediment making up the continental shelves and continental rises (see ocean ). Most geologists now believe that the geosynclinal sediments found in mountain ranges were initially deposited under similar conditions. The period of sedimentation is followed by folding and thrust faulting, with most high mountain ranges uplifted vertically subsequent to folding. The movements of the earth's surface that result in the building of mountains are compression, which produces folding, thrust faulting, and possibly some normal faulting; tension, which produces most normal faulting; and vertical uplift. Mountains are subject to continuous erosion during and after uplift. Sharp peaks are formed and are subsequently attacked and leveled. Mountains may be entirely base-leveled, or they may be rejuvenated by new uplifts.

The ultimate cause of mountain-building forces has been a source of controversy, and many hypotheses have been suggested. An old hypothesis held that earth movements were adjustments of the crust of the earth to a shrinking interior that contracted and set up stresses due either to heat loss or gravitational compaction. Another hypothesis suggested that earth movements were primarily isostatic, i.e., adjustments that kept the weights of sections of the crust nearly equal (see continent ). A third hypothesis, popular from the early 1960s to today, ascribed mountain-building stresses to convection currents in a hot semiplastic region in the earth's mantle.

According to the plate tectonics theory, the lithosphere is broken into several plates, each consisting of oceanic crust, continental crust, or a combination of both. These plates are in constant motion, sideswiping one another or colliding, and continually changing in size and shape. Where two plates collide, compressional stresses are generated along the margin of the plate containing a continent. Such stresses result in the deformation and uplift of the continental shelf and continental rise sediments into complex folded and faulted mountain chains (see seafloor spreading ; continental drift ).

Bibliography

See W. M. Bueler, Mountains of the World (1970); K. Hsu, Mountain Building Processes (1986); A. J. Gerrard, Mountain Environments (1990).

the Mountain in French history, the label applied to deputies sitting on the raised left benches in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Members of the faction, known as Montagnards [Mountain Men] saw themselves as the embodiment of national unity. Its followers included Jacobins elected from Paris as well as the Cordeliers and the followers of Jacques Roux . Approximately 300 of the 750 deputies associated themselves with the Mountain. Although party lines were not sharply drawn, the Mountain's opponents were the more moderate Girondists . Prominent Montagnards Robespierre , Georges Danton , and Jean Paul Marat were elected from Paris. The fall of the Girondists (June, 1793) was a victory for the Mountain, whose members ruled France under the Reign of Terror (1793-94). The Montain sponsored the Revolutionary Tribunal, the surveillance committees, the Committee of Public Safety, and the levée en masse. Its deputies went on missions, wielding unlimited powers, to defend the Revolution in the provinces and at the fronts. It was supported by Jacobin propaganda. The fall of Robespierre, 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794), supported by some of the Mountain, split the Mountain and led to its downfall. The romance of the Mountain led the revolutionary left of 1848 to call themselves the Mountain as well. See Plain, the .

moun·tain / ˈmountn/ • n. a large natural elevation of the earth's surface rising abruptly from the surrounding level; a large steep hill: the village is backed by awe-inspiring mountains we set off down the mountain | [as adj.] the ice and snow of a mountain peak. ∎  (mountains) a region where there are many such features, characterized by remoteness and inaccessibility: they sought refuge in the mountains | [as adj.] (mountain) his attempt to picture the mountain folk in ridiculous attire. ∎  (a mountain/mountains of) a large pile or quantity of something: a mountain of paperwork. ∎  a large surplus stock of a commodity: this farming produced huge food mountains. PHRASES: make a mountain out of a molehillsee molehill. move mountains 1. achieve spectacular and apparently impossible results. 2. make every possible effort: his fans move mountains to catch as many of his performances as possible. DERIVATIVES: moun·tain·y adj.

283. Mountains

See also 178. GEOGRAPHY ; 202. HEIGHTS ; 411. VOLCANOES .

acrophilia

a love of high mountains and of heights. —acrophile , n.

alpinism

the climbing of the Alps or any equally high mountain ranges. —alpinist , n.

orogenesis

the process of the formation of mountains. Also called orogeny . —orogenic , adj.

orography, oreography

Physical Geography. the study of mountains and mountain systems. —orographic, oreographic, oreographical, orographical , adj.

orology, oreology

the scientific study of mountains. —orologist, oreologist , n. —orological, oreological , adj.

orometry

the measurement of mountains. —orometric , adj.

orophilous

Botany. referring to orophytes, a class of plants growing on mountains below the timberline.

Mountain

The Mountain (Tsethaottine, Chitra-Gottineke), an Athapaskan-speaking group, live in the Mackenzie Mountains in the basin of the Keele (Gravel) River, the region of Willow Lake, and the country between the Mackenzie River and Lakes La Martre, Grandin, and Tache, in the western part of the Mackenzie District in the Northwest Territories of Canada. There were about one hundred Mountain Indians in 1971.

Bibliography

Gillespie, Beryl C. (1981). "Mountain Indians." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 6, Subarctic , edited by June Helm, 326-337. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.

mountains Mountains of the Moon the type of a very remote place; further than one can imagine, the ends of the earth. The term is also used by Ptolemy as the supposed source of the Nile, and is thought there to designate the Ruwenzori mountain range in central Africa.
move mountains achieve spectacular and apparently impossible results; make every possible effort. Often referring to the saying faith will move mountains, ultimately with biblical allusion, as to Matthew 17:20.

See also mountain, old man of the mountains.

mountain in figurative use, something of great size.
make a mountain out of a molehill lay unnecessary stress on a small matter.
mountain in labour great effort expended on little outcome, an allusion to the words of the Roman poet Horace (65–8 bc) in his Ars Poetica, ‘Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus [Mountains will go into labour, and a silly little mouse will be born].’
Mountain State an informal name for Vermont.

See also if the mountain will not come to Mahomet, mountains.

mountain Part of the Earth's surface that rises to more than 2000ft (510m) above sea level. They are identified geologically by their most characteristic features, and are classified as fold, volcanic, or fault-block mountains. Mountains may occur as single isolated masses, as ranges or in systems or chains.

mountain XIII. — OF. montaigne (mod. -agne):- Rom. *montānia or -ea, fem. sg. or n. pl. of adj. *montānius, -eus, f. L. mōns, mont- MOUNT1; see -AN.
Hence mountaineer XVII, mountainous XV (rare before XVII).

Mountain

Rock band

For the Record…

Selected discography

Sources

When it comes to heavy rock bands, Mountain definitely qualifies. The group was in the vanguard of hard rock/pre-heavy metal bands from the late 1960s, and Leslie West’s thunderous riffing on guitar was a cornerstone of rock’s original wall of sound. West was the size of a National Football League lineman, and the band no doubt took its moniker as a monument to his impressive stature. Numerous musicians have played under the Mountain banner over the years, but the group at its most essential consists of just three members: West, bassist Felix Pappalardi, and drummer Corky Laing.

West was born Leslie Weinstein on October 22, 1945, in Forest Hills, New York. He is one of many second generation rock ’n rollers whose life was changed by seeing Elvis Presley for the first time. West’s uncle was a writer for the Jackie Gleason Show and took him to see a performance of its summer replacement show hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Presley was a guest on the show and West was transfixed. “I’ve been playing guitar ever since that day,” he told Goldmine magazine in 1995. West attended numerous private schools, but a standardized education was not for him. “In school they just weren’t teaching me anything I was interested in, and the teachers were asking me questions I already knew the answers to, and learning dates and all that stuff, it just never appealed to me,” he told Goldmine. Instead, he worked as a jeweler for a short time, but mainly spent his time practicing guitar. West’s first band was called the Vagrants, a barely capable Long Island group that specialized in rhythm and blues, and actually recorded the song “Respect” before Aretha Franklin’s famous version. The Vagrants recorded several singles for the Vanguard label, and then for Atco. They were assigned to work with producer Felix Pappalardi, who was then riding high as the producer of famed English power trio Cream.

Pappalardi was born in 1939 in the Bronx, New York, and began learning guitar at the age of four. Determined to devote his life to making music, he attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. After stints in college and the United States Army, he returned to New York and fell headlong into the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene. Among the musicians he worked with were John Sebastian (soon to be of the Lovin’ Spoonful), Cass Elliot (future member of the Mamas and the Papas), Richie Havens, and Joan Baez. His early successes as a producer include the Youngbloods’ seminal single “Get Together.” His reputation skyrocketed after his work with Cream, whose records Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire, and Goodbye he produced and arranged.

West talked about meeting Pappalardi with Goldmine: “Atlantic Records sent him down to produce for the Vagrants. He walked in and I think he had just met Cream. He produced our single, we broke up and then he said, ‘Well, if you guys get something together, give

For the Record…

Members include Mark Clarke (member 1985-present), bass; Steve Knight (member 1970-72, 1985-present), organ; Corky Laing (born January 26, 1948, in Montreal, Canada; member 1970-72, 1985-present), drums; Bob Mann (member 1974), keyboards; Felix Pappalardi (born 1939 in the Bronx, New York, NY; died on April 17, 1983), bass, vocals; Alan Schwartzberg (member 1974), drums; N.D. Smart II (member 1969), drums; Leslie West (born Leslie Weinstein on October 22, 1945 in Forest Hills, NY), guitar, vocals.

Formed in 1969 in New York City, NY; released debut album, Mountain Climbing, 1970; disbanded, 1972; reformed 1974, 1985, and periodically during the 1990s-2000s.

Addresses: Record company —Columbia Records, 550 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022-3211, (212) 833-8000. Website —Leslie West website: http://www.lesliewest.cjb.net.

me a call.’ Later he began working with Cream, and he said if I’d got something together, he would give it a listen, so I called him right away, as soon as he got back from England. He liked it. But then he went in the studio with me and he didn’t like my drummer. So I had to get another drummer; I had a bass player and an organ player. Felix didn’t like the bass player, so his partner suggested he play bass, so he did. That was the beginning of my solo career.”

What is often thought of as the first Mountain album is really a Leslie West solo album, which was not incidentally titled Mountain. Pappalardi plays bass on the record, N.D. Smart played drums, and in an attempt to differentiate the sound from that of Cream, Steve Knight was added on keyboards. The lineup from the West album became a band, and they debuted at San Francisco’s Fillmore West in July of 1969. They played a couple of other gigs, and then, by virtue of sharing management with Jimi Hendrix, their fifth show ever was played at Woodstock. “I remember hanging around backstage and Janis Joplin had this gorgeous girlfriend she was hanging out with,” West told Goldmine about the famed concert. “I was in awe of everything there. I remember Creedence Clearwater Revival went on and they did one hit after another. I couldn’t believe how many hit singles they had! Our first album I think was just coming out.”

Drummer Smart had a falling out with the band after that, and they immediately replaced him with Corky Laing, who had been hanging out with the group, and whose own band had a record produced by Pappalardi’s wife, Gail Collins. Laing was born on January 26, 1948, in Montreal, Canada. With its lineup solidified for a while, they recorded Mountain Climbing, technically the group’s debut, which went gold thanks in large part to the hit single and enduring Mountain classic “Mississippi Queen.” The group struck gold again with the album Nantucket Sleighride, which featured a jam-heavy title track. After that album, the group quickly recorded another, the ominously titled Flowers of Evil, and a live disc, The Road Goes Ever On. But by then, drugs and dissension in the ranks had made being in the band unbearable, and the group split up.

Papplardi returned to production work. Knight all but vanished. West and Laing joined with ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce to form the second-tier supergroup West, Bruce and Laing, which recorded three albums before disbanding. From there, West and Laing soldiered on in a group called Leslie West’s Wild West Show. Pappalardi—who suffered hearing damage from his days as a musician, particularly with Mountain, who always played at top volume—rejoined in 1974. They recorded the album Avalanche, and then broke up again. After that, West resumed his solo career, though Laing continued to work with him. Albums from this period include The Great Fatsby— West was always one to make a joke about his weight at his own expense—with the Leslie West Band. A long fallow period came in the late 70s and early ’80s, during which time West did not record. The inner circle of Mountain was sundered forever in 1983 when Pappalardi’s wife shot and killed him.

West returned in 1985 with a new version of the band that included Laing and bassist Mike Clarke. They recorded the album Go for Your Life in 1986. West’s solo albums Theme and Alligator arrived in the late ’80s. Laing meanwhile led a blues band that featured former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.

The ’90s were a return to even more action for West and Laing separately, and in tandem. West has continued to make solo albums, and has even shed some of his famous poundage. He remains in the limelight these days as a musician, but also as a frequent guest on Howard Stern’s syndicated radio show. Laing recently formed the band Cork, featuring former Spin Doctors guitarist Eric Schenkman. Their album Speed ofThoughtwas released in 1999. For years, Laing was also an executive for the Canadian branch of Polygram Records. Mountain continues to tour occasionally, and lineups in the mid-’90s occasionally featured former Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding. “Needless to say, Mountain without Felix is not the original Mountain,” Laing told Goldmine. “It’s the other two guys, it’s two-thirds, and we don’t try to fool anybody by that.”

Selected discography

Mountain Climbing, Windfall, 1970.

Nantucket Sleighride, Windfall, 1971.

Flowers of Evil, Windfall, 1971.

Mountain Live (The Road Goes Ever On), Windfall, 1972.

Best of Mountain, Windfall, 1973.

Twin Peaks, Columbia, 1973.

Avalanche, Columbia, 1974.

Go for Your Life, Scotti Bros., 1986.

Over the Top, Columbia Legacy, 1995.

Leslie West

Mountain, Windfall, 1969.

The Great Fatsby, Phantom, 1975.

Live, Blues Bureau International, 1993.

Dodgin’the Dirt, Blues Bureau International, 1994.

Blood of the Sun, Raven, 1996.

As Phat as It Gets, Lightyear, 1999.

West, Bruce & Laing

Why Dontcha, Columbia, 1972.

Whatever Turns You On, Columbia, 1973.

Live ‘n’ Kickin’, Columbia.

Corky Laing

(With Cork) Speed of Thought, Lightyear, 1999

Sources

Books

Graff, Gary, and Daniel Durchholz, editors, MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press, 1999.

Romanowski, Patricia, and Holly George-Warren, editors, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Periodicals

Goldmine, 1995.

Online

Leslie West website, http://www.lesliewest.cjb.net (September 2000).

—Daniel Durchholz

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