A mountain is a piece of land that
is higher than a hill and stands much higher than the land around
it. Mountains have steep sides and a pointed or rounded
top. The top of a mountain is very cold. Mountains are
created over long periods of time by tremendous forces of the
earth.
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Few living things survive in the cold of snow capped mountain peaks. Just below the snowfields a variety of small animals such as chinchillas and pikas make their home. Large animals such as mountain goats and sheep also live there. They feed on shrubs, mosses, and other plants that grow above the timberline.
Mountains are important recreation areas. Each year millions of people go on vacations to the mountains. They camp,clib, hike, and ski. Mountains serve as places for settlements tranposrtation, and also communications.
Cold Air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. So when warm air moves up the slope of a mountain, it cools and rain or snow falls. Mountains often have stormy weather.
The timberline is the place where the trees can no longer grow. Examples of the trees that can no longer grow above the timbeline are Aspen and Bristlecone Pine.
People wear warm clothes on cold mountains; such as heavy coats, boots, and warm pants. If they wore shorts and a T-shirt with sandles, they might freeze to death. That's why people on mountains have to wear warm clothes.
There are three main kinds of mountains. Fault-block mountains are huge blocks of the earth's crust that have been lifted up along a fault. Dome mountains form where the forces below the earth's surface force the ground up in large domes. Erosion mountains are formed when sedimentary rock is eroded from large piles of sediment.
1997 World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia
1997 World Book Encyclopedia
Art Explosion 40,000 Images. Calabasas, CA: Nova Development