Travel, Science, Mountains and Oceans
October 29, 2003
>
The Mountains
When you remember me
Think of oceans, fields and mountains
Think of the wind, and then you'll know
that I am free.

The Planet Earth

Surface Area of the Planet (510,066,000 sq km)

Land Area on the Planet (148,647,000 sq km) 29.1%

Ocean Area (335,258,000 sq km)

Total Water Area (361,419,000 sq km) 70.9%

Type of Water (97% salt), (3% fresh)

Rewind the landscape 500 million years to Paleozoic Oceans.
Fast forward.
Mountains fold up and erode away.
Countless marine animals sink to the sediments of Cretaceous Seas.
Limestone layers bend and split.
Volcanoes spew out lava and ash.
Magma fills in the cracks.
20 million years of erosion expose the hardest rocks and clutter the ground with boulders.
A rainbow cactus blooms in igneous soil.


Mountains
In the height of their union they were greater than the Rockies, a range just now rising to take a better view of her lover, the Ocean.

Mountains are the largest features found on the Earth's continents. The highest ones in the world rise over 5 miles into the sky. Mountains are usually grouped together in ranges, which can be several hundred miles wide and many thousands of miles long.

Mountain ranges are built by the same processes that cause the continents to drift over million or tens of millions of years. When continents collide, the rock in the middle is crunched upwards to form mountains.

Most of the world's weather occurs in the lowest 5 to 8 miles of the atmosphere. Consequently, mountain ranges can disrupt the flow of air by their presence, affecting the weather and changing the climate. This has happened in North America, where the Rocky Mountains that run along the entire western side of the continent have slowly changed the climate of the region that is now central Canada and the central United States. Since mountains take so long to build however, they only change climate very slowly, over tens of millions of years.
 

 

 
People have long fled to the mountains in search of fresh air and tranquility. But a "health check-up" of the world's mountains by the United Nations has found that many mountain ranges themselves are in dire need of relief from modern activities that are causing lasting environmental damage.
Snow in the Mountains
Wars, pollution and logging are despoiling the world's mountain ranges — the Alps, the Rockies and the Hindu Kush are most threatened, according to a UN study released today. Mountains are the "water towers of the world," supplying more than half the world's population, said the report by the Tokyo-based United Nations University.
The Materhorn
It used to be that people who went up into the mountains could count on getting away from it all. That's becoming less true every day, according to an analysis of the health of mountain ecosystems for the United Nations University. War, pollution, tourism, the effects of climate change, population growth, overdevelopment, deforestation and soil erosion are degrading mountain ranges around the world, the recent report said.
Mont Blanc
The European Alps, under intense pressure from two-season tourism and air pollution, also made the list of ecologically endangered areas, along with the Sierra Chincua in central Mexico, the Amber Mountains of Madagascar, Australia's Snowy Mountains, and the Rockies of North America.
Walking in the Alps
Mountains of the World

Mountain peak

Range

Location

Height

ft.

m

Everest1

Himalayas

Nepal/Tibet

29,035

8,850

K2 (Godwin Austen)

Karakoram

Pakistan/China

28,250

8,611

Kanchenjunga

Himalayas

India/Nepal

28,169

8,586

Lhotse I

Himalayas

Nepal/Tibet

27,940

8,516

Makalu I

Himalayas

Nepal/Tibet

27,766

8,463

Cho Oyu

Himalayas

Nepal/Tibet

26,906

8,201

Dhaulagiri

Himalayas

Nepal

26,795

8,167

Manaslu I

Himalayas

Nepal

26,781

8,163

Nanga Parbat

Himalayas

Pakistan

26,660

8,125

Annapurna

Himalayas

Nepal

26,545

8,091

Gasherbrum I

Karakoram

Pakistan/China

26,470

8,068

Broad Peak

Karakoram

Pakistan/China

26,400

8,047

Gasherbrum II

Karakoram

Pakistan/China

26,360

8,035

Shishma Pangma (Gosainthan)

Himalayas

Tibet

26,289

8,013

Annapurna II

Himalayas

Nepal

26,041

7,937

Gyachung Kang

Himalayas

Nepal

25,910

7,897

Disteghil Sar

Karakoram

Pakistan

25,858

7,882

Himalchuli

Himalayas

Nepal

25,801

7,864

Nuptse

Himalayas

Nepal

25,726

7,841

Nanda Devi

Himalayas

India

25,663

7,824

Masherbrum

Karakoram

Kashmir2

25,660

7,821

Rakaposhi

Karakoram

Pakistan

25,551

7,788

Kanjut Sar

Karakoram

Pakistan

25,461

7,761

Kamet

Himalayas

India/Tibet

25,446

7,756

Namcha Barwa

Himalayas

Tibet

25,445

7,756

Gurla Mandhata

Himalayas

Tibet

25,355

7,728

Ulugh Muztagh

Kunlun

Tibet

25,340

7,723

Kungur

Muztagh Ata

China

25,325

7,719

Tirich Mir

Hindu Kush

Pakistan

25,230

7,690

Saser Kangri

Karakoram

India

25,172

7,672

Makalu II

Himalayas

Nepal

25,120

7,657

Minya Konka (Gongga Shan)

Daxue Shan

China

24,900

7,590

Kula Kangri

Himalayas

Bhutan

24,783

7,554

Chang-tzu

Himalayas

Tibet

24,780

7,553

Muztagh Ata

Muztagh Ata

China

24,757

7,546

Skyang
Kangri

Himalayas

Kashmir

24,750

7,544

Ismail Samani Peak (formerly Communism Peak)

Pamirs

Tajikistan

24,590

7,495

Jongsong Peak

Himalayas

Nepal

24,472

7,459

Pobeda Peak

Tien Shan

Kyrgyzstan

24,406

7,439

Sia Kangri

Himalayas

Kashmir

24,350

7,422

Haramosh Peak

Karakoram

Pakistan

24,270

7,397

Istoro Nal

Hindu Kush

Pakistan

24,240

7,388

Tent Peak

Himalayas

Nepal

24,165

7,365

Chomo Lhari

Himalayas

Tibet/Bhutan

24,040

7,327

Chamlang

Himalayas

Nepal

24,012

7,319

Kabru

Himalayas

Nepal

24,002

7,316

Alung Gangri

Himalayas

Tibet

24,000

7,315

Baltoro Kangri

Himalayas

Kashmir

23,990

7,312

Muztagh Ata (K-5)

Kunlun

China

23,890

7,282

Mana

Himalayas

India

23,860

7,273

Baruntse

Himalayas

Nepal

23,688

7,220

Nepal Peak

Himalayas

Nepal

23,500

7,163

Amne Machin

Kunlun

China

23,490

7,160

Gauri Sankar

Himalayas

Nepal/Tibet

23,440

7,145

Badrinath

Himalayas

India

23,420

7,138

Nunkun

Himalayas

Kashmir

23,410

7,135

Lenin Peak

Pamirs

Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan

23,405

7,134

Pyramid

Himalayas

Nepal

23,400

7,132

Api

Himalayas

Nepal

23,399

7,132

Pauhunri

Himalayas

India/China

23,385

7,128

Trisul

Himalayas

India

23,360

7,120

Korzhenevski Peak

Pamirs

Tajikistan

23,310

7,105

Kangto

Himalayas

Tibet

23,260

7,090

Nyainqentanglha

Nyainqentanglha Shan

China

23,255

7,088

Trisuli

Himalayas

India

23,210

7,074

Dunagiri

Himalayas

India

23,184

7,066

Revolution Peak

Pamirs

Tajikistan

22,880

6,974

Aconcagua

Andes

Argentina

22,834

6,960

Ojos del Salado

Andes

Argentina/Chile

22,664

6,908

Bonete

Andes

Argentina/Chile

22,546

6,872

Ama Dablam

Himalayas

Nepal

22,494

6,856

Tupungato

Andes

Argentina/Chile

22,310

6,800

Moscow Peak

Pamirs

Tajikistan

22,260

6,785

Pissis

Andes

Argentina

22,241

6,779

Mercedario

Andes

Argentina/Chile

22,211

6,770

Huascar�n

Andes

Peru

22,205

6,768

Llullaillaco

Andes

Argentina/Chile

22,057

6,723

El Libertador

Andes

Argentina

22,047

6,720

Cachi

Andes

Argentina

22,047

6,720

Kailas

Himalayas

Tibet

22,027

6,714

Incahuasi

Andes

Argentina/Chile

21,720

6,620

Yerupaja

Andes

Peru

21,709

6,617

Kurumda

Pamirs

Tajikistan

21,686

6,610

Galan

Andes

Argentina

21,654

6,600

El Muerto

Andes

Argentina/Chile

21,463

6,542

Sajama

Andes

Bolivia

21,391

6,520

Nacimiento

Andes

Argentina

21,302

6,493

Illampu

Andes

Bolivia

21,276

6,485

Illimani

Andes

Bolivia

21,201

6,462

Coropuna

Andes

Peru

21,083

6,426

Laudo

Andes

Argentina

20,997

6,400

Ancohuma

Andes

Bolivia

20,958

6,388

Cuzco

Andes

Peru

20,945

6,384

  (Ausangate)

 

 

 

Toro

Andes

Argentina/Chile

20,932

6,380

Tres Cruces

Andes

Argentina/Chile

20,853

6,356

Huandoy

Andes

Peru

20,852

6,356

Parinacota

Andes

Bolivia/Chile

20,768

6,330

Tortolas

Andes

Argentina/Chile

20,745

6,323

Chimborazo

Andes

Ecuador

20,702

6,310

Ampato

Andes

Peru

20,702

6,310

El Condor

Andes

Argentina

20,669

6,300

Salcantay

Andes

Peru

20,574

6,271

Huancarhuas

Andes

Peru

20,531

6,258

Famatina

Andes

Argentina

20,505

6,250

Pumasillo

Andes

Peru

20,492

6,246

Solo

Andes

Argentina

20,492

6,246

Polleras

Andes

Argentina

20,456

6,235

Pular

Andes

Chile

20,423

6,225

Cha�i

Andes

Argentina

20,341

6,200

McKinley (Denali)

Alaska

Alaska

20,320

6,194

Aucanquilcha

Andes

Chile

20,295

6,186

Juncal

Andes

Argentina/Chile

20,276

6,180

Negro

Andes

Argentina

20,184

6,152

Quela

Andes

Argentina

20,128

6,135

Condoriri

Andes

Bolivia

20,095

6,125

Palermo

Andes

Argentina

20,079

6,120

Solimana

Andes

Peru

20,068

6,117

San Juan

Andes

Argentina/Chile

20,049

6,111

Sierra Nevada

Andes

Argentina

20,023

6,103

Antofalla

Andes

Argentina

20,013

6,100

Marmolejo

Andes

Argentina/Chile

20,013

6,100

 

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