Mountains of the World
We are about to embark on a journey across the continents to learn about the mountain regions of the world.
Are there any mountains in Rhode Island?
The answer to that question is no. The highest landform in R.I. is Jerimoth Hill in the northwest corner in Foster, R.I. It is only 812 feet high so it doesn't qualify as a mountain.
A mountain is a landform that stands much higher than its surroundings usually larger than hills. They generally have steep slopes and sharp or slightly rounded edges. Geologists, scientists who study the earth, consider an elevated area a mountain only if it includes 2 or more zones of climate and plant life at different altitudes or heights. The climate often becomes cooler and wetter with increased elevation. In most parts of the world a mountain must rise 2,000 feet or 600 meters.
The earth is like a peach, made up of different layers.
We live on the rocky outermost layer called the crust. This is up to 31 miles thick in most places.
The next layer is the mantle, a tightly packed band of rock which is about 1,860 miles thick.
The rocks here are hot and molten. Where the crust is weak, it spews out hot rock or lava forming a kind of mountain called a volcano. At over 6332 degrees Fahrenheit, the mantle is solid but can deform slowly in a plastic manner.
The center or core of the earth is likely to be made of nickel or iron. Its temperature is believed to be about 9032 degrees Fahrenheit.
At Illustrating the Earth's Layers you can compare the layers of the earth to other things and get ideas about how to create your own model.
Here is another excellent site at which you can learn about the Layers of the Earth.Large areas of the crust called plates move slowly around on the earth's surface. The oceans and continents ride on the plates. Long ago the plates were still joined. Their edges could still fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
At Naming the Tectonic Plates there is an activity in which you can name the tectonic plates of the earth.
Mountains are created or made over a very long period in time by tremendous forces in the earth. Scientists in the early 1960's developed a theory called plate tectonics. They believe the earth's crust is made up of 7 large, rigid plates and about as many smaller ones which are in slow continuous motion. The continents and the ocean basins ride on these moving plates. Most mountain building happens along the boundaries between the plates.
To find out some general information on how mountains are made go to MountainsThere are 5 basic kinds of mountains.
1. Volcanic mountains
2. Fold mountains
3. Fault block mountains
4. Dome mountains
5. Erosion mountainsMajor mountain ranges may include more than one of these kinds. For example the Rocky Mountains in Colorado begin as fold mountains but later geologic forces pushed up large blocks of the earth's crust creating fault block mountains.
Volcanic mountains like Mt. St. Helen's in Washington form when molten rock from deep within the earth erupts and piles up on the surface. Volcanic mountains are mostly igneous rock which forms when hot molten rock cools and solidifies.
This is a photo of scenic, beautiful Mt. St. Helens before the eruption in 1980.
On May 18,1980, Mt. St. Helens sent 540,000 tons of ash into the atmosphere that was measurable for more than 900 miles to the east and trace amounts circled the earth for 10 days.
Life is now returning 20 years later.
This volcano has erupted several times since 1980. Fifty-seven people died in 1980 and it caused millions of dollars of damage. Hot ash and rocks started forest fires and melting snow resulting in floods and mud slides that washed away buildings, roads and bridges. It knocked down millions of trees and spread a thick layer of volcanic ash destroying crops and wildlife.
To learn more about Mt. St. Helens and other volcanoes go to Volcanoes
Hawaii is made up of 132 islands formed from volcanoes built up from the ocean floor. People live on 7 of the 8 largest islands. The other islands are too infertile and small to support human life.
Hawaii, the largest island, was formed by 5 volcanoes. Mauna Loa, and Kilauea are the only active volcanoes. Mauna Loa erupts at irregular times, and sometimes sends streams of fiery lava flowing down to the ocean. Kilauea erupts more frequently. A highway passes near the edge of the crater so it is sometimes called a "drive-in" volcano. Bubbling lava and fire fountains attract thousands of tourists every year. To learn more about these volcanoes, visit
Hawaii: Born of Fire
Here lava flows through the tube system to the sea. Click here to explore the fascinating most active volcano in the world - KilaueaIf you have any further questions about volcanoes there is a site where many questions have been asked of a volcanologist, or an expert on volcanoes. Become a volcano expert yourself by visiting Ask a Volcanologist
Fold mountains such as the Appalachian Mountains in the U.S. and the Alps in Europe form when 2 plates meet head on and the edges crumple. They are mainly sedimentary rocks such as limestone and shale, which form when pieces of rock, plant and animal sediments fall and settle to the bottom of the water and harden there. Heat and pressure then change the rock into metamorphic rocks such as marble and slate.
Here is an illustration of a fold mountain. To learn more about these structures go to
Fold Mountains
Many of the greatest mountain ranges of the world have formed because of enormous collisions between continents. The Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States were formed about 400 million years ago when North America and Africa collided.
The San Andreas Fault in California is created by the Pacific Plate grinding past the North American Plate. A fault is a fracture in the earth's crust in which the rocks on each side move in relation to each other. Here you can see the actual crack in the earth. It is visible for miles above ground. You can learn more about this fault at San Andreas Fault
The Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, and the Adirondack Mountains of New York are low mountains that were formed when the crust was heaved upward without folding or faulting into a rounded dome. These are called dome mountains. Dome mountains are much higher in elevation than the surrounding land and because of this erosion occurs at a very fast rate.
A few erosion mountains such as the Catskill Mountains in New York result from the erosion of a thick pile of sedimentary rock. This type of a mountain is all that remains of a plateau after rivers or glaciers erode the plateau to form peaks and valleys.Erosion means to wear away. Mountains are eroded by the effects of wind, rain, ice, and snow.
To see the effects of erosion with the help of lightning strikes go to Arches National Park.
Do you think that this rock will remain balanced here forever? What may happen over time?Where in the world are the mountain regions?
Mountains cover about one fifth of the earth's surface. Australia and Africa have very few mountains, but Asia has huge areas of mountainous land.
There are vast underwater mountain chains that form part of the ocean floor. Hawaii is the topmost part of an underwater volcano. If you measured from the ocean floor it would be even higher than the world's highest mountain at 29,520 feet!Mount Everest 8850m (29035 ft) Nepal
At World Roof you can visit the high points of the world. There is a list of the high points with the name of the country, summit, height, and location. There is also the latitude and longitude with numbers based on Expedia Map's name server. Negatives represent southern latitudes and western longitudes. This is an excellent site for a Web quest search.
This graphic will help to review longitude and latitude.
At Peakware World Relief Maps you can zoom into any region of the world, range, or peak to identify its name just by clicking on the topographical map.
At World Atlas- The List you can find the tallest, largest, deepest anything you need to know. There is a comprehensive list of facts about everything!
TOP 10 TALLEST MOUNTAINS
(By Size)
Qogir (K2) 8611m (28250 ft) India (Kashmir)
Kangchenjunga 8586m (28169 ft) Nepal
Lhotse 8501m (27920 ft) Nepal
Makalu I 8462m (27765 ft) Nepal
Cho Oyu 8201m (26906 ft) Nepal
Dhaulagiri 8167m (26794 ft) Nepal
Manaslu I 8156m (26758 ft) Nepal
Nanga Parbat 8125m (26658 ft) Pakistan
Annapurna I 8091m (26545 ft) NepalMount Everest 8850m (29035 ft) Asia TALLEST MOUNTAINS
(On Each Continent)
Aconcagua 6959m (22831 ft) S. America
Mount McKinley 6194m (20320 ft) N. America
Mount Kilimanjaro 5963m (19563 ft) Africa
Mount Elbrus 5633m (18481 ft) Europe
Mount Willhelm 4509m (14789 ft) Oceania
Vinson Massif 4897m (16066 ft) AntarcticaAltai Qilian Mountains change over time. Heavy rains and snow soften their rocky outlines and gather to form rivers. It is very cold and many of the world's peaks are blanketed in ice and snow all year.
Ice and snow also change their shape.
There's less air to trap the warmth of the sun. Cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. The temperature of the air drops as the altitude or height increases. When the warm, moist air moves up the windward slope, it cools and the water vapor it holds condenses into water droplets and falls as precipitation on the windward side.
The moisture is squeezed out. Thus, when the air begins to descend the leeward side of the mountain, it is dry. As the cool air descends, it warms and expands, reducing its possibility of precipitation. This is known as the rain shadow effect and is the primary cause of leeward deserts of mountain ranges, such as California's Death Valley.
To further explain the rain shadow effect in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, go to the White Mountains.
As the Pacific storms move east, the Sierra Nevada take the majority of the moisture leaving the White Mountains with strong dry wind and less than 12 inches of precipitation, most of which is snow even though they are near Death Valley, the hottest, driest place in the world.
Asia is the largest continent in both size and population covering almost 1/3 of the world's land area and it has about 3/5 of the world's people.
It has some of the world's highest mountains, longest rivers, largest deserts, plains, and plateaus, and thickest forests and jungles. The highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, rises 29,028 feet above sea level on the Nepal-Tibet border. The Dead Sea shore on the other hand is the lowest land at about 1,310 feet below sea level.
The chief ranges in Asia are:
Elburz Qin Ling
Himalayan Stanovoy
Hindu Kush Tian Shan
Karakorum Yablonovyy
Kunlun ZagrosMount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, rises 5 1/2 miles above sea level. It is in the Himalayas on the frontiers of Nepal and Tibet, north of India.
National Geographic has an informative site that explains the measurement of this massive mountain peak. Surveyors disagree on its height. To learn more about the height and if it will change in the near future click on
Everest@ National Geographic.To go on an interactive tour of Mount Everest go to Everest Interactive. Here you can also learn about the Imax movie Everest.
To follow climbers today ascending Mt. Everest you can go to
Mountain Zone .Many climbers have tried to scale it. On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa tribesman from Nepal were the first to reach the summit. They were members of a British expedition led by Sir John Hunt. Avalanches, crevasses, and strong winds have combined with extreme steepness and thin air make this mountain very difficult to climb.
To experience this incredible journey, go to Everest- Roof of the World
One more excellent site for research on Mt. Everest is Birth of the Himalaya.
On Mount Everest, there are many glaciers. To learn how they are formed go to Glaciers.
Imagine finding this ancient rock carving from more than 2,000 years ago.
In the Wildlife Special, you can read about the Himalayan marmots that live in the alpine meadows between 10,000 and 14,000 feet. They are about the size of a large cat and are related to the woodchuck.
You can also read about the mahseer, the king of the Himalayan rivers. It is a large, powerful fish that means "great mouth" in India. They are tough fighters related to the carp family.
He has included a special report about the Indian Tiger who is near to extinction.
Read about the plight of this beautiful animal.
The highly threatened snow leopard is a beautiful cat that lives in the mountainous regions of central Asia. Adaptations for mountain life include large forepaws, short limbs, well developed chest muscles, long hair with dense, woolly under fur, and the long tail.
The primary threats are for its valuable fur and bones, trapping of cats suspected of killing livestock, and depletion of their natural prey. Their pelts or fur are worth $50- $500 U.S. dollars. The Chinese also use their bones for medicine.
Africa is the second largest continent in area covering about 1/5 of the world's land area and it has the third largest population.
Volcanic activity created most of Africa's highest mountains. The 2 tallest peaks- Mt. Kilimanjaro at 19,340 ft. and Mt. Kenya at 17,058 ft. are extinct volcanoes. Even though they rise near to the equator, they both have glaciers and are covered with snow most of the year.
At Crown of Africa - Unlocking the Secrets of Mt. Kilimanjaro, you can go on an incredible multimedia adventure. You need to load Macro media flash 4. It takes a while to load but it is worth the wait.
Volcanic activity also produced the Ethiopian Highlands, the isolated Tibesti Massif in the Sahara Desert, and Cameroon Mountain, the highest peak in western Africa.
Volcanic rock covers the Drakensberg, a mountainous region where the plateau of southeastern Africa drops sharply to the sea.
Two major non volcanic ranges in Africa are the Ruwenzori Range, which rises on the Uganda- Zaire border and the Atlas Mountains. The Atlas Mountains extend from Morocco to Tunisia and form Africa's longest mountain chain. The Atlas Mountains are part of the same mountain system as the European Alps.
North America is the third largest continent in area bit it ranks fourth in population after Asia, Europe, and Africa. The chief mountain ranges are:
The Alaska Range
Appalachian Mountains
Cascade Range
Coast Range
The Rocky Mountains
The Sierra NevadasThe Rocky Mountains form North America's largest mountain system. They extend from Alaska through Canada to New Mexico and run southward into Mexico as the Sierra Madre Oriental. The chain runs more than 3,000 miles and is about 300 miles wide in places.
The high ridge of the Rockies form the Continental Divide which separates rivers that flow west to the Pacific Ocean from those that flow east to the Atlantic Ocean.
Visitors flock to the Rockies to enjoy the natural beauty of snow capped peaks, sparkling lakes, and ski resorts.
The Rockies have many plants and animals. Firs, pines, and spruce are common in the high areas. Forests of pinion pines and juniper cover the lower slopes of the southern Rockies. These are called coniferous trees, or those that have needles, cones, and and do not shed their leaves in winter like deciduous trees do. The bristle cone pine is an evergreen tree that grows in high altitudes in the western U.S. The oldest known living tree is a Great Basin bristle cone pine in the White Mountains of eastern California. This tree named Methuselah is more than 4,600 years old! To learn more about this ancient plant in the White Mountains, go to
Ancient Tree
or
Bristle cone Pine
Rocky mountain goats and bighorn sheep live above the timberline, the elevation above which trees can't grow because it is too cold. The male bighorns have massive horns that curve backward from their forehead that may measure more than 4 feet long. They live in the mountains from Canada to California to the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas.
To find more information go to
Bighorn
Bears, hares, elk, mountain lions like the cougar, minks, porcupine, and squirrels live in the higher slopes.
This is the cougar, the Ashaway Elementary School mascot.
To learn more about the cougar or puma as it is also known go to Cougar.
Moose, coyotes, chipmunks, and muskrats make their home in the grassy valleys between the mountains.On the east coast we find the Appalachian Mountains, which is the second largest mountain chain in North America. They extend 1,500 miles from the province of Quebec in Canada to Birmingham, Alabama. They are a major source of mineral deposits and coal and the valleys provide important farming and recreational regions.
These mountains were formed between 435 and 250 million years ago. They're the oldest mountains in North America. The name comes from the Apalachee Indians.
The Appalachian Trail is a footpath that extends more than 2,000 miles from Mt. Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. It goes through 14 states, 2 national parks, and 8 national forests. To learn more about this historical hike through the Appalachians, go to Appalachian Trail.
This is Mt. Shasta at 14,162 feet.The Cascade Range is a chain of mountains that extends from northern California through Oregon and Washington into southern British Columbia. It lies west of the Rockies. The Cascades are made up of lava and volcanic material. Mt. St. Helens which erupted in 1980 is here in Washington. Lassen Peak in northern California last erupted in 1921. Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,410 feet and Mt. Shasta in California at 14,162 feet are the highest peaks.
To take a virtual tour of the Cascades, you can visit Virtual Cascades.
This is Mt. Rainier near Seattle.
To learn more about this range, you can visit Mt. Rainier
Here he takes us to the Cascades and the Sierra Nevadas including Mt. Whitney which is the highest peak in the contiguous United States excluding Alaska.
He will also take us to Mt. Washington at 6,288 feet in New Hampshire. This is the highest peak in New England which is part of the Presidential Range with several peaks named after Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and Monroe. Here at Mount Washington it is known for its bad weather which recorded the strongest wind in history in 1934 at 231 m.p.h.! Winds reach hurricane force about 100 days of the year and the summit is in the clouds 60% of the time.The Alaska Range is famous for its towering mountains and its beautiful scenery. Mount McKinley is the highest peak in the United States at 20,320 feet above sea level. It was named after William McKinley, the 25th president of the U.S. In addition Alaska has the 15 next highest peaks and almost all of the active volcanoes in the U.S. This peak is in Denali National Park.
Mt. McKinley in Alaska, called the top of the continent because it has the highest summit in the U.S.
Next we visit the Coast Range which is a chain of mountains that range from Kodiak Island, Alaska through Canada to southern California. Twelve separate mountain ranges make up this series.
The Sierra Nevadas are a huge uplifted and tilted granite mountain range in eastern California. It extends north and south for 400 miles and is about 70 miles wide. Its highest point is Mt. Whitney at 14, 495 feet. Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park are here.
Mount Rushmore is a huge carving on a granite cliff in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Gutzon Borglum designed the memorial and supervised most of the work. The head of Washington is about as high as a 5 story building about 50 feet high!
Do you know who the 4 presidents are?
To see if you are right go to
Mount RushmoreThe snowshoe hare is a rabbit that has a special adaptation. For most of the year it has a brown upper coat and a whitish chin, belly, and tail. In winter the hare sheds its coat and grows a new one. This coat is all white except for the tips of the ears so it can blend in with the snow. Look at its large hind feet which are great for hopping through the snow. It actually looks just like our rabbit, Snowball!
To find out more about it, go to
Snowshoe hare.
The Andes Mountains in South America stretch along the west coast for about 4,500 miles. They go from Panama all the way to the tip of Cape Horn. Only the Himalayas of northern India and Tibet are higher than the Andes. Many Andes peaks are taller than 20,000 ft. high. They are composed mostly of igneous rock, which were formed by volcanic eruptions within the past 65 million years. They are the world's longest chain of mountains above sea level.
Click here to learn more about the
Andes Mountains
At an interesting site about a fascinating discovery in the Andes Mountains at Mt. Ampato it tells about a volcanic peak that began erupting in 1990. The sun then melted away the frozen cap exposing rock and ancient structures. When 2 men climbed 20,700 feet to the peak, you'll never guess what they found! To read about this very interesting bundle they unearthed, go to Ice Maiden.The Andean people ot South America keep llamas, vicunas, and alpacas. They use their beautiful fur to weave into yarn. They also carry heavy loads to and from market. Some mine tin, copper, gold and silver. Others work on farms growing barley and potatoes.
Antarctica is the continent that is buried in ice surrounding the South Pole. It formed from layers of snow pressed together over millions of years. It is the coldest and iciest region in the world, even colder than the North Pole. It actually has the highest average elevation of all continents due to the thick icy layer. The average elevation is 7,500 feet. The Transantarctic Mountains cross the entire continent dividing Antarctica into 2 natural land regions. About 98% of the continent lies beneath the ice and snow. There are some ice free areas called dry valleys where the glaciers have retreated and wind prevents the snow from collecting. Mount Erebus, Anarctica's most active volcano towers above Ross Island.Do you know who first reached the South Pole? The race began in 1911. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, traveling on skis with dog sleds to pull their supplies, reached the pole 5 weeks before British navy captain Robert F. Scott who died on the way back.
Europe, a continent smaller than any continent except Australia, may be small but it has 34 countries that are filled with natural beauty and cultural landmarks. The Ural Mountains form the eastern boundary. They separate Europe from the continent of Asia. No body of water separates Europe from Asia so some geographers consider them one continent called Eurasia. Among many attractions are the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland.
The chief mountain ranges are:
Alps
Apennines
Balkans
Carpathians
Caucacus
Pyrennes
Sierra Nevadas
The mountains of the Northwest Mountain region through France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the northwest corner of the Soviet Union include some of the oldest rock formations on earth. They have worn down or eroded over the years so that the highest peak in Norway only rises 8,100 ft.
The Alpine Mountain system runs across southern Europe from Spain to the Caspian Sea. The Sierra Nevada rise in Spain, the Pyrenees form the border between Spain and France, and the Alps cover southeastern France, northern Italy, most of Switzerland and part of Germany, Austria and northern Yugoslavia. The Apennines, south of the Alps, cover much of Italy. The Balkans are in Bulgaria. The Carpathians run through Czechoslovakia, southern Poland, western Soviet Union, and Romania. The Caucasus lie in the eastern end of the region. The highest peak, Mount Elbrus, rises 18,481 feet in the U.S.S.R. near Georgia.
This is a photo of the Matterhorn in the beautiful Pennine Alps. To learn more about this incredible tourist attraction go to Matterhorn.
Some day you may want to visit this scenic mountain vacation spot. To see some fantastic shots taken in August, 2000 in and around Zermatt by Ann Bowker go to
Mad about MountainsIn the extreme northern part of Europe above the Arctic Circle live a group of small, sturdy people known as the Lapps.
Lapland is not a separate country- it belongs to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Soviet Union. It is very cold here and winter lasts for 9 months. The sun never rises above the horizon for 2 months.
The Mountain Lapps are mostly nomads who move constantly in search of food for their herds of reindeer. They pitch their tent wherever there is enough vegetation to feed the herds. Each family lives in a portable teepee shaped tent called a lavo. The tent is shared with their dogs. They live on reindeer meat, milk and cheese. They dress in clothes made of wool and reindeer skins.
Australia is the only continent that is also a country ranking as the smallest continent but the 6th largest country. It is often referred to as "down under" because it is completely below the equator in the southern hemisphere. The southeastern coast has the most people. This is where the 2 largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are located. Canberra is the national capital.
This is the world famous
Sydney Opera House.
Its famous for vast open spaces, great numbers of sheep and cattle, and unusual wildlife. Kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, echidna, and wombats are a few of the unique animals that live here.
To learn many interesting facts about the land "down under" go to
About Australia.Most of Australia is flat, about 90% consists of plains and low, flat topped plateaus. The central part of the Eastern Highlands is desert but he highest most mountainous land is along the east coast. Like in the Rockies, the eastern highlands are called the Great Dividing Range because their slopes divide the flow of the rivers, however, they are not very mountainous. The highest mountains rise in the Australian Alps, which consist of several ranges. The Snowy Mountains are best known and include Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak at 7,310 feet. Did you know that it and several other peaks in the Australian Alps are snow covered and attract many skiers in winter, which is opposite our summer?
The mountain ranges in the Western Plateau are much lower. The highest peaks are in the MacDonell and Musgrove Ranges. Ayers Rock, a huge metalloid shaped rock formation is a popular tourist destination. To see this unusual rock formation go to Ayers Rock.
At Walking the Mountains of the World, there is a scrapbook of some of the world's most notable mountains to climb.
Some that are included are:
Mt. Ararat (5,165 m) in Turkey,
Mt. Blanc (4,807 m) in France,
Mt. Fuji (3,776 m) in Japan,
Mt. Etna (3,333 m) in Italy,
and
Mt. Hekla (1,491 m) in Iceland.
You can even visit England, Scotland, and Wales.At Mountain Ascents
you will find a list of who was first to climb the highest mountains in the world and when they made their ascent. Do you think you would like to climb a challenging mountain? You have to be in very good physical shape. What kind of equipment would you need?
It takes a lot of planning to go on a big climb!Mountains are filled with valuable resources such as metals like copper, zinc, and iron, coal as well as jewels such as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. We also get gold, silver, and platinum from minerals and rocks in the mountains. Mining can destroy a mountain leaving behind ugly wasteland. In western Australia entire mountains are dug away to get their iron ore. These companies must be responsible and return the land to its natural state.
There are many threats to the mountains. Everywhere mountains are being damaged. Tourists can erode paths and step on rare plants. New ski resorts destroy the natural beauty with ski lifts and cable cars. Trash and debris are left behind as families hike in national parks and forests. We are fortunate to have these recreational areas but we must respect and take care that we leave only our footprints behind.
Our national parks have land that has been set aside by the government for tourists to visit and enjoy. At Yellowstone National Park alone there were 4,123,664 visitors in 1999. To learn more about this incredibly beautiful park go to Yellowstone National Park.
Endangered animals in the park are the gray wolf and the whooping crane. On the threatened list, there's the grizzly bear, the bald eagle, and the lynx. The peregrine falcon which was formally endangered was removed from the list in August,1999.
The Grand Canyon is also frequently visited. We must preserve these national treasures.Another threat to the mountains and forests is acid rain. Acid rain is any rainfall that has an acidity level beyond what is expected in nonpolluted rainfall. Any precipitation that has a PH value of less than 5.6 is considered acid precipitation. To learn more about this, go to The Science Master.
Cars, trains, and planes as well as factories produce chemicals that pollute.Erosion is caused when trees are felled. The roots of the trees hold the topsoil and when they are not there the fertile topsoil washes away leaving the mountain slopes bare, stripped to barren rock.
Lightning and fire also cause damage to acres of forest each year. Wildfires cause millions of dollars of damage each year because they spread and rage out of control. When camping in the woods we must be careful to put out campfires completely.
Many of the world's mountain
are being threatened by tourism and big business. An example of this is the holy mountains of China seen here.
The Sacred Mountains in China are big business and a major threat now exists to the delicate balance of ecology on many of these mountain ranges. For centuries they have attracted pilgrims. Now they are attracting tourists but, more worryingly, big business interests as well.Logging, hunting, and deforestation are also taking their toll.
Many animals are becoming endangered. Tigers and leopards have been hunted for their beautiful coats and bones are used for medicine in China and Japan. The mountain gorilla is endangered because of poaching and deforestation.
The panda bear of China is another endangered animal. The main threat is that a panda's habitat is being destroyed. A satellite image has shown that the panda's habitat has shrunk 50 percent in the last 15 years.
The last threat is related to the natural flowering cycle of the bamboo. Pandas feed on bamboo shoots; it's their main food source. The bamboo blossoms and then dies causing pandas to have to move around in search of other non blooming bamboo trees.
To learn about other endangered animals go to My Endangered List.
If you have any further questions about volcanoes, rocks and minerals, or mountains that you would like to ask an earth scientist from Hawaii, you can go Ask an Earth Scientist
I hope you have enjoyed your exhausting trek to the mountain regions of the world! Mountains play an important role in the world's weather patterns and support unique animal and plant life.
Help preserve and keep these treasures for all.
